Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, football adds a pair of transfers. Men's basketball struggles to find its footing. And women's basketball continues to roll. Okay, here we.
[00:00:55] Okay. Welcome to episode 288 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001 and hope y'all are staying warm out there. Gamecock nation. I mean, shoot, it is cold. It is chilly out here, especially in the southeast. I mean, y'all know me. I. I recently moved down here. This is not what I signed up for. They're talking about a threat of snow.
[00:01:30] I moved here to escape a lot of this. This is. This is banana land. So hope y'all are good because it can be tricky out there. Icy roads, things like that. If you don't have to, no reason to. Fantastic sports week and weekend. It is the next four days when you're listening to this, but five days in a row of just football. You get college football playoffs. You get NFL playoffs. There's college basketball sprinkled in, of course.
[00:02:00] So you know what?
[00:02:02] Maybe not the worst time to get a little snowstorm. No reason to leave. And if you're like me, just a bum trying to be healthy and you're doing dry January, just going to crush a lot of Diet Cokes on the couch. But if you're not doing dry January, I'm envious. And you get to enjoy a fantastic lineup of football for the next few days here. But yes, my long winded way of saying, hope you all are staying warm and are doing well out there. Full week back from the new year and all that jazz. Everyone's all settling in here. Got a quick episode for y'all today. Maybe not quick. We'll see how long I decide to rant. But just a couple of things to go over here. Basketball focused. No other sports were in action this last week to go over, but I do have a few notes from the football team. Shane Beamer keeping us active and on our toes. Beamer and staff added a couple of transfers this past week. It's. It's really funny with this transfer portal window, I just. I don't know if I'll ever get fully used to it. You know, I never really dove too deep into, like, high school recruiting. And especially before the portal, it was just so much to track, so many different names to keep. You know, if there was a big five star, we were in on, you know, like a Dylan Stewart or a Nick Harbor, I was in on those Guys. But I always just said, you know what? Once they commit. And y'all have heard me say this, if it's headlining news, like, I'll talk about it. But with the Portal, it's a little different because you can sit here in the off season and say, well, we have these immediate needs. And then sometimes you get some guys in the Portal who are really noteworthy, just the fact that they're in there. And so you're like, well, wait a second, like, are we gonna have a shot here? And it just has made the whole recruiting cycle and watching the team and things like that so, so different. So Beamer and staff added a pair of transfers, like I just said here. Let's go through them. Starting with offensive lineman Boz Stanley. I hope I'm pronouncing that right. Boaz Boz. Sick name nonetheless. Offensive lineman coming in from Troy. Now, he primarily played center in his career. Also a little bit of guard. You can see from the couple of offensive linemen that the staff have brought in. They were focused on interior guys, and I think they were really looking for their next center. Don't think they had complete faith that he was already on the roster. When you're losing a guy like Vershawn Lee, that is so, so hard to replicate. So I really would expect him to be in line for center. Fantastic numbers. When you look at it, he only allowed two sacks, and he was not called for a single penalty all last season. He's played a lot of football his career, and this just seems like a really good addition. I think he has the attitude and the build that you look for when you're talking about an interior lineman, but especially when you have a center. So all of a sudden, you look at this offensive line for South Carolina, and we saw it last year, but. And even not so much two years ago, but you had like, a little bit with the freshmen with, you know, with. With Tree and tro. But last year you saw a more complete unit and you saw a deeper unit. And so now you're looking at this staff bringing in not just depth pieces from the Portal, but guys who can compete for vital positions. But that's now mixing with really good recruiting these last couple of cycles here. I already mentioned Tree and tro, but you got a guy like Josiah Thompson, freshman sensation. You got guys like Blizzard Franks, Blake Franks, Cam Pringle, highly recruited guys who are already on your roster. So I think it all makes for competition. It makes for a deep and talent rich offensive line. It's just a question of can you get them to play cohesively next year and can you get them to develop this offseason. The other Portal edition the Gamecocks brought in, they made a splash with this one. You probably saw it is adding running back Rasul Faizun. Again, I hope I'm pronouncing your name correctly. He comes in from Utah State.
[00:06:27] The Gamecocks missed on a running back target they had earlier in this Portal cycle turned to Rasul and I think they really did a good job here last season he racked up a little bit over 1100 yards along with eight touchdowns, 22 receptions. So. So, you know, really more of a runner there. But he did increase that production compared to year over year. But he's a guy that's going to bring in experience, production and now additional depth into that group which will now really be a four headed monster. You know, going into it with Rocket leaving and then you saw it with the bowl game. You had Attaway, Howell and Fuller. Now this staff is really big on Howells but he's just a question of can he put it together at the SEC level in a timely fashion. He has all the tools you want want to make sure he can hold onto the ball. Attaway I like, you know I talked about it in the bowl game. I think he did a fine job all things considered. But you just can't have enough talent in the running back group. You look a couple years ago when we were turning to Dekaryan Joiner and Mario Anderson, I think this staff learned its lesson and is basically saying never again. Like we trust these three guys. But three is just simply not enough. That's the position that takes a lot of punishment and you need to have different guys with different skill sets. And I think Rasul comes in and compliments everybody. Well, it's a question of now like who rises to the top with his production. Razul probably has the inside lane to be RB1. But again, does a guy like Juwan Howell continue to develop and shine in spring camp and then fall camp and maybe becomes RB1 Oscar Attaway already has the experience. He's an older guy, he knows the playbook. And then you got Matt Fuller who is a highly recruited guy. Lot of talent there, lot of a lot of big high ceiling there. So really, really excited for that. And I do hope to see a few more Portal additions over the next few days, especially on the defensive side of things. But so far this staff has put together a very solid Portal class to reload for next season.
[00:08:49] But all right, on to games that were actually being played. Not thinking about hypotheticals for several months from now, even though I'm jazzed for next season. Side note, like, when I, when I look at some of the roster, I, you know, I look at the schedule, I, I'm hype and it's going to be a long winter and spring, but we're going to have some other sports to get us through it. But looking at the hardwood here, talking men's basketball, they had a tough bit of news to start this week as Miles Studi will be out indefinitely as he is dealing with a blood clot in his leg. So thank goodness he's okay. First and foremost, he was on the bench this past game, but this is a tough loss. You know, he's a guy that maybe was struggling a little bit this year but was able to catch fire a few games. But it's someone who you trusted whether he was in the starting lineup or coming off the bench. A veteran guy, someone who plays a vital position, you know, someone who can knock down threes but can play good defense and can play inside as well. I was a big fan of his. This is a tough, tough loss because I'm going to get into it in a second here. But South Carolina is not that deep. You know, I, I think it's evident when you've seen these last couple of games that we're just not as deep as we were last year. But it's more so, just not as deep as some of these higher end SEC teams are. So now that you're down a key contributor, it's a question of, okay, who can step up. But sometimes you might just not have it on a night to night basis. But it's going to be something that Lamont Paris and this team is going to have to navigate. Is it a guy like Jacoby Wright, who I love, can he step up on a consistent basis? Does Zachary Davis contribute double figures more consistently? Can Cam Scott develop quickly? Highly recruited guy, a lot of talent there, was excited when he committed, but you just look at him, I think he needs some more time. So you have to find some production with Studi out. But of course basketball is second to health, so well, well wishes. I hope he gets well soon. I'm so glad they caught that and that he is okay. But outside of that, it was already set to be a tough week on the court for the guys as they face a gauntlet this week from Alabama and Auburn in just a matter of days. So Wednesday night the Gamecocks faced the Crimson Tide, they took them on first and they took the loss 88 to 68. This game was interesting. You know, I talked about how you have to start fast and avoid these sluggish starts that we've seen this season from Carolina. And the first five minutes looked pretty damn good, honestly. You know, South Carolina hit their first few shots, they seem to be coming out with a intensity on defense. They were running the floor nicely, got a couple outside shots, worked it in. Pringle was going, Jamari Thomas hit a couple of big shots and it looked okay.
[00:12:01] But then as a little bit time more went on into that first half. You had a couple of silly turnovers. Alabama is able to capitalize on that easily. Couple of bad fouls, you know, Alabama gets to the line, you give up a four point play and next thing you know you're back in this double digit deficit into the half.
[00:12:23] So it was disappointing from that standpoint that they couldn't maintain the good start. It was encouraging to see at first though, but I will say, like, this was a tough matchup. Alabama is incredibly talented. They played a lot of their reserves for a good chunk of that second half and even those guys are talented. You can tell they don't beat themselves a lot. But I liked the fight that our team showed. I know it's not going to show it in a 20 point loss, but the guys did not give up and they were battling. And there were a few moments in the game where you said, well, if we get on a little bit of a run here, we can make this a game. You know, bringing it to 1512 points, that type of range.
[00:13:03] It was just a deal where we just couldn't string it together. You know, you'd get one stop and a bucket, but you couldn't get that second stop or, you know, they'd go on a little bit of a run. And you know, it's just a tough, tough night. And I think what it is is the league, the SEC is just really, really good this year. You know, I think South Carolina has a good basketball team, a good team, but the problem is in the SEC this year, a good team is just not good enough because darn near everybody else is good, but most are really good and a good chunk are elite. You know, talking Tennessee, even though they just had a poor showing, but Tennessee, Auburn, Alabama, Texas, you know, Kentucky's having a good year. So it's just a situation where Lamont Paris has recruited pretty well.
[00:14:03] I went into this season thinking that the team could be pretty good. You're Looking at the rotation, you think it should be pretty good. And I think going up against a lot of other teams, they could hold their own. It's just going to be so hard night in and night out going against the sec. So this team has to figure it out because it's going to be a challenge. You know, cmb, he had a tough game against Alabama. If he has a tough game, it's going to be really hard to overcome. Everyone else has to continue to step up. You have to get contributions from your bench, especially now when you're done with, when you're out. Miles Studi. So tough night and it is. This needs to serve as a, as a way to say how can we find a way to match up with some of these teams a little bit better Player highlights from this game. You had Jacoby Wright, my guy, he went for 20, Jamari Thomas 15, Nick Pringle 13. So you had three guys in double figures and you still came up 20 points shy. I think CMB had six or eight. So you look at that and you say, well, maybe if he can go for 12 or 13, you know, you close that gap a little bit and then who is that other guy to get you 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 points? So that's going to be the challenge there. But up next, the guys will host number two Auburn Saturday afternoon for a 1pm Tip off. Again, it just, the hits don't keep on. They just don't stop coming like early this season. Auburn is currently 14:1, coming off a close win against Texas. They also are a team with Final four aspirations. It's just sheesh, just a big time sheesh for this matchup after a tough start to league play. So my crow to the game in this one is cut out. The turnovers, you know, for Carolina to match up with some of these elite teams, they cannot make silly mistakes. You saw it against Alabama where it was close in the beginning. You had a couple of bad turnovers when it was still close and it just, you just lose it from there. So you have to play sharp, but tune in. Let's go. Like you got to still believe, you know, if this team can hover around.500 in league play, you can still be right there.
[00:16:25] But moving over to the women's side of things, they also had some tough news this week. Tough, tough news on the injury front for Carolina basketball all around. Not what you want to see. Ashlyn Watkins is out for the season after tearing her acl. Just, you just feel horrible, feel horrible for her. This is a big season for her. She's been a contributor but this was really her season to shine and that's just anytime you see that at any level for any player, you hate it just something beyond your control. But that's a huge loss for South Carolina. She's a rim protector, she's a post scorer. She was really growing into her own and again was going to be a featured player this year, so feel for her. She was also on the bench during the most recent game for Carolina, so hopefully she is in good spirits but really wish her a speedy recovery and a long healthy career moving forward. But that was really, really tough news to hear. The Ladies were in action though, Thursday evening at home against Texas A and M. I'm actually recording this as they are playing, but I waited till the very end, you know, I didn't want to get cocky with it. I felt pretty confident here. So as I'm recording it, we got about two minutes left to play in the fourth and we should hold on to this one as the GameCocks are up 87 to 41. So I can feel pretty confident talking about this as it's going on. But you saw in this one the Ladies were very balanced in their attack and I think that's what's going to have to happen moving forward. Chloe Kits was playing well, Saniyah Fagan was playing well down low. Joyce Edwards was really playing well early in this one. That's a player who is so versatile. She's young, she's a freshman, Came in incredibly highly recruited, but keep an eye on Joyce Edwards. She might play some good minutes sort of in that stretch four kind of position where she can play down low. She has some range, but with Ashlyn Watkins being out I would expect it to be a three headed approach between Kitts, Fagan and Edwards and then let the guards Tessa Johnson, Brie Beal, pow pow Full Wiley. Let them handle the rest. Probably will play through the guards the rest of the way, but Dawn Staley has the depth and the smarts to navigate this current situation. Some player highlights although we're still playing the game here. Joyce Edwards, the aforementioned freshman with 19 and 1010 dang. 16 points from full Wiley, Chloe kits 11 and 7 and then Saniyah Fagan with 12. So you see a pretty balanced attack there. Tahina Powpow. Only four points right now, so again it's going to be a little bit to navigate this, but this team is deep. I've talked about that at nauseam. So hopefully we can navigate this situation and continue to roll in the sec.
[00:19:30] Next up for the ladies, they play Sunday against Texas. First matchup against them as a league opponent, so that'll be fun to watch. They're pretty highly ranked themselves, but I do think it's a different animal when you play us. My crow to the game here is continue to get that strong shooting. Sometimes it can be not cold, but you want to have smart shot selection. There we go. That's a more articulate crow for the for y'all there. Smart shot selection. Play through. Pow, pow. Get breezy going. Tessa Johnson. Let's just have those good shots, get it going and then let the ladies down low finish the rest. But with that y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox gamecox. Actually, hold on. I forgot to give my pick for the Friday College Football Playoff. Don't overthink this. Ohio State minus 6.
[00:20:30] I think that they are rolling. They play a good brand of defense that I've heard. Trying to not be too smart here can give yours trouble when he sees the COVID to look. So don't overthink it. Ohio State minus 6 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.
