Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, men's basketball gets their first SEC win. Football adds players via the portal, and women's basketball updates. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay.
[00:00:57] Welcome to episode 367 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y' all had a nice week out there, Gamecocks. It was a. It's been a long week. You know, I don't know if it's been the same for y' all out there, but for me, this re entry back into the real world is tough. It's. It's just. It's just never fun, you know, Like, Monday, I'm sitting at my desk and trying to be a real member of society, just still in a brain fog. And then each day got a little bit better, better. And then the weekend comes into view. And sitting here Thursday evening getting ready for a college football playoff game, you're like, holy crap, we got a lot of action coming around the corner here. And that's on top of all the Gamecock sports we have going on this weekend. So, yes, I do hope y' all had a very good week, ready to attack the weekend, and, you know, let's all have a good time here. Got a lot of info to go over here. Got a jam packed episode. So gonna jump right into this here.
[00:02:07] Starting with the football program as it is. Portal bonanza. The portal is portaling. I mean, it's just trying to keep track of this thing. It just honestly makes your head spin. And that's coming from a guy who, like, already didn't really try and get into the weeds too much with traditional recruiting.
[00:02:30] This is like, next level stuff. Like, if you try to keep track of who's in the portal from where, where are they visiting? Like, you need dual screens, a massive Excel sheet, like, a ton of coffee. Like, so what I do is, you know, if there's a big name in the portal, like, yeah, maybe I'll check up on the occasional article about where they're taking visits, but I really can't get too caught up in that. I just sit back and I wait and see what South Carolina is affected by, rather it's coming or going. And we've known some of the guys who have left via the portal, and there was a little bit of a sense of not panic, anxiousness. Maybe there's a little angst amongst the fan base. I think, earlier in this week that, you know, we really haven't gotten anybody you know, you see these other teams, they're, they're loading up and we lost all these guys and what the heck are we going to do? And then boom, a couple of big pops from Shane Beamer and company here. Going to go in chronological order here. I just missed out on this first one here with the timing of our last episode, but wide receiver Jaden Gibson committed to the Gamecocks. He is coming from Oklahoma. He's dealt with some injuries, hasn't played as much as he would have liked over the last year or two really, but he's a big bodied wide receiver, highly recruited out of high school, was productive when he was healthy. So the idea I think is pairing him with Nick Harbor. You're going to have two very tall wide receivers who can make plays down the field. I saw someone equate Gibson to Dale Von Campbell, the guy that we had two years ago that came in from Nevada, if I'm not mistaken, who came on late in the year, but someone who was that a Veter in receiver taller, could make some plays in space and was a red zone threat. So I think this was a good pickup with some big upside. Then on the 6th, it was a busy day for the program as the GameCocks brought in three players starting with Jordan Thomas, defensive tackle from Georgia. Funny enough, Thomas was heavily recruited by the Gamecocks coming out of high school. A lot of people thought he might join our team, went to Georgia, played sparingly, very similar track to a Gabe Brownlow Dindy who was more in that reserve role but effective when on the field. Definitely looking to go somewhere with some more playing time, has all the size and the resume that you want to see. So I really do like this pickup in a big position of need. So pairing him with some of the guys who are already on staff or on the team rather. And you know, I think coming from a place like Georgia, it's stacked and you have to earn your playing time. You look at a guy like Monkel Goodwine who was left from Alabama, if I'm not mistaken. He was well coached, came to South Carolina, continued to develop, and once he had his shot, he did everything with it. So I look at Thomas as maybe a similar trajectory. He already got some good coaching, he was highly recruited, has all the tools, let's just take him to the next level.
[00:05:43] And then on the other side of the line of scrimmage, some much needed help on the offensive line. Carter Miller, coming in from ucf, he graded well. I was reading a lot about, you know, his Pff. You know, graded pretty well when he played. He's bopped around to a few different schools, but coming from ucf, so you have that power for experience there. And then offensive lineman Hank Purvis, big Hank coming from Purdue, just that Big Ten Midwestern frame that you think of, just big. Brolic Bruiser has played a lot of football in his day. I think his specialty is at guard.
[00:06:20] So much needed help there along both sides of scrimmage. And sitting here today, I know South Carolina is not done. I think there's maybe a little bit more of an emphasis on finding guys who have played a lot of football but have played at that higher level. You know, you got Gibson from Oklahoma, then you got Georgia, ucf, Purdue. All power for talents. And not to say I would be upset if we went after smaller schools, but I think Shane Beamer has tried to find those diamonds in the rough in the portal. And now I think it's time to say, you know what, we got to find some more proven guys. And then late this week, Beamer ball strikes again as kicker. Upton Belafont from Texas Tech, committed to the Gamecocks.
[00:07:07] Kicker was open. It was a question mark going into this offseason. What are you going to do about it? Let's go get a proven kicker. He played well for Texas Tech. I think there was a couple of blocks thrown in there. I think he was like 14 of 16 on the. On the year of field goals. But a very accomplished kicker. So we'll take that. Absolutely. Now, you don't have a question mark going into that position, so it's a really good transfer portal hall here. And I think you can see that there is that emphasis along the lines of scrimmage. Again, I don't think there's really a position outside of quarterback that you wouldn't take someone if you're South Carolina. But you knew that especially offensive line needed some help and that's what you got there. And then in that same vein, I'm not going to go into everyone here, but you had a couple of announcements of guys who were returning to South Carolina because everybody's a question mark now in the offseason. So everybody makes big announcements and it's a lot of fun. Mazzy O. Bennett announcing his return. I love that for him. I think he can thrive in this Kendall Brile system. That was a guy that personally I thought might have been like, you know what? My playing time dipped drastically last year. I got to go somewhere and try to get some film here.
[00:08:25] Love that he's coming back and can continue to develop under coach Furry and then Vicari Swain. Excus.
[00:08:32] He announced his return. I didn't think this was much of a question but again we have to make these announcements here. Love to see that. I think he's going to play a much more prominent role on the defensive side of the ball than he did last year just with some of the guys who moved on to the NFL. Of course he is a punt mat, punt return master and I've seen some people float out, you know, takes of let's see what he can do on the offensive side of the ball, you know, like draw up a couple packages where he's out, out in the slot or something. He's deadly with the ball in his hands and in spades can make guys miss. He's got the speed. I don't hate that idea but I think he's a great talent in the defensive backfield and clearly on special teams as well. A couple of announcements here. Donovan Murph, young wide receiver, announced his return. Shed Sarat offensive line announced his return. That's a big stay. He was a highly recruited guy was productive last year when he was healthy, a good piece there on the line. And then Nolan Hay, offensive lineman, also announced his return. So all told, it was a pretty good week roster wise for South Carolina.
[00:09:42] Just needing to build back some of these, you know and it's, it's easy to read these articles and things and look at, oh my God, like look at all the departures here. And it's a lot. It is and it's a different ball game now than when we all became fans of the sport. But you can't forget like yes, you will backfill some of these with your guys in the transfer portal but it is why you recruit, you know, like South Carolina with the wide receivers. Like it was a pretty wide receiver heavy class last year and yeah, you lost one of them to the portal. But you got guys there like Alex Cyrus, Jaden Sellers, Donovan Murph, like the list goes on and then you're going to have a couple freshmen. Now you got a couple freshmen who are talented in the defensive backfield in this class you have a talented defense or excuse me, offensive lineman, one of the top coming in this class. So don't get too intimidated by looking at these lists of outgoing players and then also think of it, how many of them made those big impacts that you're really going to miss. Like you know, Boaz Stanley like, you know, appreciated his time here at South Carolina. Like I Don't think we're missing him, you know what I mean?
[00:10:50] So think of it as like, net gains and net losses and all that jazz. And I'm sure we're going to get some more announcements in the coming days as this staff continues to recruit the portal and try and bring guys that fit the system and can help make us better.
[00:11:07] But. All right, moving to games that are being played. Talking men's basketball here. And hey, this is what a win feels like, huh? I get to finally break down an SEC Power 4 victory for the Gamecocks. Really, really fun to see on the road at LSU Tuesday evening. South Carolina getting the dub 78 to 68.
[00:11:31] This was a good game, right? Like, there's some stuff we can pick apart here. South Carolina jumping out to a big lead in the first half, just a pop right out of the gate, started hot, forcing LSU to shake some things up strategically right away, forcing them to use timeouts early in the game, built a 25 point halftime lead and basically just had to hold on for dear life. And they did. And they managed to. You know, the first half, everything was clicking offensively. Second half, it was a bit of a struggle, and you saw LSU go on some runs and capitalize on some mistakes and things like that.
[00:12:10] But credit to the Gamecocks for holding firm, weathering the storm, making buckets when they had to, ending the runs when they had to, and finding a way to get a win here. And, you know, I've been. I've been pretty critical of this basketball team, I think, and I've made some comments about Paris and questioned some things. I don't think I've been as critical as other people out there.
[00:12:38] I was, you know, struggling with this team a little bit because here's the thing, like, you knew this team could be pretty good, right? Like, I don't think we thought this team was going to be, you know, Final Four bound, but certainly better than last year. And I think that's what was frustrating with it, is that you knew we could be better than we were showing. And this game here, was that where you saw some things come together that you wanted to earlier in the year. And yes, the second half was not as good as you'd like. You had a. You had an opportunity going into the half to really put this thing on ice and you let LSU hang around, but still, it's 10 point victory on the road in the SEC.
[00:13:19] You're absolutely going to take that 10 out of 10 times. Some player highlights here for y'. All. Elijah Strong Monster game. Leading the way with 30 points. Michi Johnson also with a pretty big game, 19 points and six assists. And Eli Ellis with 10 points off the bench. A healthy, impactful Eli Ellis can be an X factor for us really, just at any given game. You know, he was hurt against Clemson. I think that hurt us in the results. But this team can put it together, right? You know, you would have liked some production from a couple other guys, but this was a good game and you know, we're not going to take away from the win. We're going to celebrate the win and hopefully stack it as the guys go back home against Georgia Saturday afternoon, 2pm Tip off. If you're in town, this is a perfect game to go to. You got, you got Saturday, you got NFL playoffs later in the afternoon. You can start your day well, it's 2 o'. Clock, but start your sports day by going to this game, supporting the squad at home, trying to get two league wins in a row here. Georgia is currently 13 and two overall, one and one in the SEC.
[00:14:34] So a chance, a chance here to get an impactful league win and very early in the season, like move into the middle of the pack in terms of conference play, right? Like I think with that win against LSU, the guys jumped up like 20 or 30 spots in the net ranking. Like these conference games matter. A lot of these are quad one games and if you can start stacking some of these, who knows where you'll end up later in the year. But thinking about a crow to the game here, I haven't really talked much about that for basketball here. I think it's going to be continue to play smart and limit the turnovers. This team has been really good so far in conference play with limiting those. And I think if you are trying to continue the momentum that they have, continue to double down on that, don't give Georgia any extra chances than they have to. They tend to have a more prolific offense. They're averaging nearly 98 points per game compared to South Carolina's 80.
[00:15:43] So you don't want to give them any extra chances to score on you there. So let's see what the guys can do. It'd be really fun to get on a little win streak there in SEC play.
[00:15:54] But looking at the other side of things here, the ladies are about to tip off here. I'm recording Thursday evening again, this is the cadence. We fall into a lot with women's basketball season. So I do feel bad and we send good vibes to the ladies over the airwaves. Here taking on Arkansas. So hopefully the ladies can continue business there and handle the Razorbacks. But Sunday, the ladies are also taking on Georgia and will be looking to stay. Hopefully they're still undefeated at this point in the SEC.
[00:16:28] Georgia is 15 and 1 right now as of recording this and 1 and 1 in the SEC. I would imagine that changes by the time tip off rolls around. Probably another game thrown in there. But also 2pm Tip off again, that is Sunday. When you look at this thing, you know the Gamecocks, you know, it's funny, like we are sitting at third in the country, 15, 120 so far in league play. And I feel like it's just, it's been a quiet season, you know, Like I maybe it's because there's some other fanfare with some other programs and maybe it's because we're sitting at third overall, but I do feel like it's been a little bit of a quieter season and you're just, you know, we know what we have with some of the talent around us, you know, especially when you talk about Joyce Edwards, you know, Medina, you know, these players that are really coming into their own. So it's exciting to watch. And I feel like we haven't even really hit our stride yet is what I'm trying to say. And when we do, it could be really, really special. So my crow to the game here is I'd like to see a big game out of Raven Johnson. You know, I'd like to, I'd like to see her continue to distribute the ball well. I want her to, you know, surpass her season average of about six assists. I'd like to see that a little bit more when she starts to facilitate things. Well, things tend to go well for the whole team, but it's a jam packed weekend between college football playoffs, college basketball for the Gamecocks. I gave y' all my picks last episode. We'll see if they hold true tonight. But with that, y', all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks. 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.
