Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, Lenora sneers a decision reaction to the scheduled release and recaps from both basketball teams. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:53] Okay.
[00:00:55] Welcome to episode 363 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope you all had a great weekend, Gamecocks. Hope you all are staying warm out there. I mean, shoot, feels like the entire east coast, but even, like, down here in the southeast is just cold. Like, I mean, we're like 20 degrees. Like, that's not what we signed up for.
[00:01:25] Absolutely not. But, yeah, I hope you're staying warm. Hope you all had a good weekend out there. Army Navy game, bowl season, starting college basketball, just wall to wall action of a lot of good games to keep our attention in the cold and whatnot. But, yeah, just kick back, get yourself a nice beverage. Starting to mail things in a little bit as we get closer to the holidays, but ready to attack this week here. Last full week until the holidays, right?
[00:01:54] I think so, if my math is correct. So, yeah, lock in for next few days or at least pretend to, and then, hey, off to the races. But all right, let's go here. Got some stuff to dive into.
[00:02:08] Going to talk a little bit here about football for a few minutes, and then the basketball teams were in action over the weekend, so of course going to dive into that here. So there's a lot to talk about from the football team.
[00:02:22] First off, if you haven't had a minute take, take, take a moment or two. And I would suggest watching the introductory press conferences of our new offensive staff, like, you can just tell they are locked in, they're professional, they understand the challenge and the task at hand.
[00:02:40] Kendall and coach Clem, the offensive line coach, you can tell they go way back. You can tell that they have chemistry. And I think Kendall Briles, like, said everything that we've been wanting to hear from an offensive coordinator standpoint. Just talking about being able to install things quickly, being able to focus on not turning over the ball and then putting his system in a way to maximize his personnel. You know, I mean, I think you hear that a lot with offensive staff and offensive coordinators, and we certainly have in the past. But we. We know in reality that we've had some coordinators here that try to put our players in a box for their system, and I don't think Kendall Browse is going to do that. They asked him specifically about some of the guys on the team now and how they would fit in his system. And he's like, well, my system needs to fit, you know, to them type of deal. So I think that's really encouraging. And then Stan Drayton, really, really cool story with him and Shane Beamer. I did not realize that they initially met at Mississippi State when Beamer was just getting started in his career. So they go way back and he is the only coach that is going to stick with his team through the bowl game. Funny enough, Penn State is taking on Clemson, so he started off his, you know, his Gamecock tenure with trying to beat Clemson. So absolutely love to see it. But yeah, they got me fired up. So definitely would definitely take a minute and go watch that.
[00:04:12] And then also we have some exciting news for the roster. Brady Hunt will be returning that I did not know he had any years of eligibility left.
[00:04:22] I did not. But that's a big piece there. I think tight ends are going to be important in this new scheme and we're losing a couple guys, whether it be for graduation or through the portal, like Michael Smith. So having a veteran in that room will be great. But I do expect Beamer and staff to target a tight end in the portal in the coming weeks. And then the big news, which, although it's not official official like on the pot on the Gamecock football account, it's basically been confirmed that Lenora Sellers is staying for next year. There's been all sorts of speculation about what he's going to do with his future.
[00:05:02] Is he going to test the NFL waters? Is he going to consider transferring? But it was reported that they were finalizing a deal for him to come back and he basically confirmed as such. So I don't know if it's at the finish line as of now, but it seems like we can be rest assured that QB1 will be returning. And I love this move. I think this is correct on multiple fronts.
[00:05:26] One, while there was a lot of NFL speculation for Lenores and he was pretty high up in NFL draft boards, I think last year, despite having to work against the grain with the shoeless system and everything, I think it was pretty clear that he needed some more development. And that's okay. You know, these are college players. It was his second year starting, you know, and there's nothing wrong with saying, you know, I'm going to stay in college for another year. Yes, you can get paid now and everything, but take another year to develop.
[00:06:05] Go to the NFL more prepared and more polished because the NFL is a very unforgiving place and you can get drafted high. But if you don't perform necessarily up to the standards or showing those potential quickly, you could be riding the bench. Right. So he's coming back to South Carolina. Absolutely. Love it. There's all the speculation that he was going to transfer elsewhere and everything like that. And I saw a fantastic take out there on social media. I forget who had it. So if you're listening to this shout out to you, but everyone was saying Lenores needs to go elsewhere to better develop himself.
[00:06:42] But the reason he was even in these conversations was because that of being at South Carolina.
[00:06:49] So you can't have it both ways. You can't say, well, Lenores is this great prospect and he has all the, you know, all the potential in the world, you know, but South Carolina is not good for him. It's like no South Carolina was good enough for him to offer him when he was not highly recruited. He was good enough for him to break onto the scene and be a potential high draft pick. But now all of a sudden it's not good enough for him to stay.
[00:07:11] I don't buy that and I think especially under the brial system, he's going to thrive. So very excited for that. I'm sure they're working on a really cool video for it to be official. And then yeah, there's a few other pieces from that veteran group that we hope to get official word that they are coming back and hopefully over the next couple of weeks we do get that before the new year, like a Nick Harbor, Dylan Stewart, a couple other guys, but very exciting news and I think we should all take a deep breath, you know, a little sigh of relief and that's going to be exciting. Not just for guys to stay on the team, but as we're trying to attract talent, especially on the offensive side of the ball, I think guys are going to be excited to play with the Norris in this system.
[00:07:53] And then another piece of news that came out of the football program was that the schedule release. I mean, it's crazy. I kid it around. I'm like the body of 2025 isn't even cold yet and we're talking 2026. But that's life in the SEC.
[00:08:09] Absolutely.
[00:08:11] So if you'll remember correctly, it was the first year where it's a nine game SEC schedule and then you have those permanent opponents. So it's pretty neat to look at the schedule here and see some of those old east rivals back on the schedule here. And I think it's pretty balanced. It's a single bye there's. One bye week this year, which is absolutely brutal across the league. That nine games in the sec, you just dive right in with one. So I'm just going to read it out for y'. All. I mean, you know, you start off with three games at home. Kent State, Towson, Mississippi State, going on the road to Bama, coming back home to host Kentucky and then on the road to the Swamp right before the buy. So that's a nice little throwback there. Kentucky, Florida and then you get the bye week, coming back to host Tennessee, on the road on Halloween at Oklahoma, back home hosting A and M. I think that might be homecoming I saw earlier could be wrong there. Then on the road for Arkansas and then the second to last week of the season is home against Georgia and then going on the road to Clemson. So wow. A couple ones stick out to me. I mean you have a chance certainly to start off 2 0, but hosting Mississippi State, a team that yes, showed improvement this year, they're probably on the rise, but you don't know what that roster could happen and whatnot. They've had a little bit of turnover in their coaching staff. You have a chance to maybe start 30 and by the time you host Mississippi State, you're going to have two good weeks of install with this new system.
[00:09:58] Hosting Kentucky. That's nice right there. Although we'll see what they look like with the new coach they have going to the Swamp. I mean that just feels right. We'll see how they are under their new coach as well. A lot of new coaches on this schedule here. But yeah, that Georgia game sticks out as one that's just going to be really intense. I mean, and that's how this is going to break out. I mean it kind of works out that way because of the home at home canceled with Miami that you don't get that tune up game before Clemson. But you look across the league and it's the case at a lot of schools and that's kind of what I think the SEC was trying to get away from that. You're playing these very meaningful games throughout the entire year, but wow, that game is going to be intense. Like especially oh man, like I certainly hope we're both eligible going into that game. But like if you're fighting for bowl eligibility, oh my goodness. Think we will.
[00:10:59] Yeah, you're looking at Mississippi State, Kentucky, the first two and then. Yeah, you just got to flip a couple. We'll see what Arkansas looks like. You know, there's some opportunities here on the road where you can make some noise at the Swamp. Tough place to play, but you certainly can. Shane Beamer is one in Clemson now. Like, you know, there's, there's a few opportunities here. Going to be very interesting to see. And yeah, I mean, it's a whole new world of possibilities with this new system and it is possible that this team really bounces back. I'm not going to get into predictions and all that, but it's just so funny that we're sitting here in the middle of December of 2025, still talking about what players are returning for our team, and yet we're already diving into the 26 schedule. So very exciting. And certainly we'll be making a couple of trips to Colombia this upcoming year.
[00:11:51] But okay, let's talk about games that actually happened and not hypothetical ones here. Talking basketball. Both basketball teams were back in action this Saturday.
[00:12:01] Starting off with the men's team, they took on the Citadel at home Saturday night. The guys got the win, making it two in the row here, 71 to 55. And this is a funny one here because sitting here, that's what, a 16 point win, right? Yeah, 16 point win.
[00:12:23] You're like, okay, nice. Like the guys had two big wins in a row. They're dominating lesser competition. It's exactly what you're supposed to be doing. And all that is very true. It is. But this was a game that if you watched it or watched the highlights or even just read about it, you'd know that the Gamecocks did not live up to their potential and they did not have their best game that night. Lamont Paris mentioned multiple times in his press conference afterwards that guys were not ready to play that night. I don't know if that's because there was a break for exams or if they didn't have the edge because the Citadel is not the best here. But yes, they did not play their best. The biggest call out here, three point shooting or really lack thereof in this one, three for 23.
[00:13:13] Like, I don't know what that is. I don't know if that's mentally off, physically off.
[00:13:21] The guy's just not putting in the effort. But that is atrocious and you're lucky you're playing three win Citadel and having that type of performance because anybody else with a pulse would take advantage of that.
[00:13:38] It's fine to be a team that's going to shoot a lot. You know, that's a lot of how we see basketball trending. But there are teams in college basketball that live and die by the three. I don't know if that's necessarily our mantra, but we certainly take a lot of threes and that's okay, but you need to be hitting them.
[00:13:57] And when we saw that as the, you know, little bit of an identity for this team earlier in the year and they had a couple of games that weren't their best night, the idea is that they would progress and they would get better and you'd have better shooting nights as the season went on. Well, the season has gone on and we had a couple of these where there are bad nights shooting the three and I don't know what the fix is, you know, you just can't have it. And I think with the way that this team is built, like there are some scorers out there and when you have nights that some of these guys are not connecting, it's tough for them. You know, I like having the depth that we do, but we don't have the best post play.
[00:14:48] So to compensate for that, you're going to try and be a really good shooting team.
[00:14:52] Well, that needs to get fixed. And I know it's funny to sit here after a 16 point win and be so critical, but it's the truth because we're, you know, you got some big games coming up and you need to be able to find a way to win in different ways. So it's going to be really interesting to see. I mean, you're, you're seeing this coaching staff in Lamont Paris mixing up the rotations. Guys are playing different amounts of minutes. Eli Ellis went for 24 minutes in this game. You know, so you're just having guys who maybe were coming off the bench or maybe they're starting, but they're playing less. Like you're trying to find the combinations and that work for this group. There are of course, still some positives, but this game was a little bit too close at times than you'd like to see.
[00:15:40] Meeche Johnson led the way with 19 points. Miles Studi had himself five points here. And coming back from injury, I understand that is a player that we're going to need to step up in a more consistent way. So let's see what happens. These guys, you know, it's still a little bit of a progress, but you know, you're talking their next game Tuesday night against Clemson in Clemson, and that's a ma. That's a massive game. Clemson has a pretty good team. You need to be able to go up there and you need to play in every facet of the game shooting the ball. We need to find A way to get some good production from the post in the post and then play really good defensively and limit turnovers. You know, it's a rivalry game.
[00:16:24] Things are, things are, you know, wacky in these games and sometimes you have an ice cold night shooting and you go the next game and you're shooting the lights out. I'd love to see that, but we need some consistency. Why not start here against Clemson, make it three in a row and then have some momentum to close out this year before you get into conference play. So as sort of the skinny on the men's basketball team. But then Sunday, the women were in action. They took on Penn State. I talked about it before. Another out of conference power four opponent here. And the ladies dominated this one, 95 to 55. Really put the pedal to the metal in the second half. Started off strong. Second quarter, Penn State bounced back a little bit, but in that third and fourth quarter, just absolute domination by South Carolina. You saw Dawn Staley give a lot of credit to shutting down. Gracie Merkel, who is one of Penn State's best players, held her to nine points and it showed, it absolutely showed in the end there with a very comfortable margin of victory. And, you know, it's another team where I think you're still trying to figure out a little bit about the roles and responsibilities. And I've talked about that a little bit already, but I think you're seeing this team grow and mature, particularly on the defensive side. And they're still coming together, but I think this team has a lot to offer and they've been battling some stuff internally, some injuries and, you know, some, you know, players missing games and things like that. So I don't think they've hit their stride quite yet. And it's also funny to say that as you're coming off like a 40 point win, but nonetheless, it was a very good effort there. Joyce Edwards leading the way with 29 points.
[00:18:17] You have Raven Johnson with 15 points and Tessa Johnson with 15 points as well. So just a really good effort all around from the ladies as well.
[00:18:28] And then on Thursday they are taking on usf.
[00:18:34] So that nice little Thursday night game there and then a quick turnaround as they also play on Saturday. So we'll preview all that next episode. And with that, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show, Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'. All. Go Cox.
