Lamont Paris updates injuries to Meechie Johnson, Chico Carter
South Carolina is dealing with a bit of the injury bug early in the season, and Lamont Paris updated the status of both Meechie Johnson and Chico Carter Jr. Monday night.
Speaking on his call-in show, Paris said that Carter Jr. is ahead of Johnson in terms of progress and practiced today.
Paris also said that he does not want Johnson to play until he’s confident in playing the way he knows he can.
Carter got to do some competitive work in practice Monday after an off day Sunday and Paris said the hope is he will play.
South Carolina will leave Tuesday for a two-game road trip in Washington D.C. The Gamecocks are at George Washington Wednesday night (9 p.m., CBS Sports Network) then play Georgetown Saturday (noon, FS1).
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Johnson tweaked his ankle in the Gamecocks’ season-opening win over SC State and hasn’t been right since. After trying to play against Clemson and Colorado State, he’s now missed two of the team’s last three games.
The lone game he played in during that stretch was Furman. He had three points on 1-for-7 shooting in 26 minutes. He did not play Friday against USC Upstate, a 68-53 win. Johnson this season is averaging 5.3 points and 3.3 rebounds. He’s shooting 21.9 percent from the field and 27.3 percent from three.
Paris also sounded as if South Carolina was going to take things slow to make sure he’s fully healthy and back to his preseason self.
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“I looked at one of the possessions in transitions. Meechie was trying to run back at full speed. I could tell. I know he wanted to get back in transition. Looking at it, he couldn’t move the way he wants to move or we need him to move,” Paris said Friday. “I told him, ‘I want to do right by you and get you as right and as ready as we can get you. If that means we don’t play this game or whatever the next game (is), I want you to be back to that guy and how he felt going into the season.'”
The Gamecocks will expect Johnson, when healthy, to be the starting point guard and shoulder a lot of the scoring load.
“Honestly, as we moved into the season and played our first exhibition game if I had to say who the leading scorer is, I would say he’d be our leading scorer and he’d lead us in assists. That’s where we were and where he was as a player,” Paris said. “I want to do whatever we can do to get him back to feeling like that guy. Whether it turns out and bares itself out that’s what it is or not, I’m saying the level at which he was playing at before he got hurt was impressive.”
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Carter Jr. also missed the Gamecocks’ win over Upstate dealing with an ankle injury as well. He was listed as day-to-day before the game.
The 6-foot-2 guard has been one of the bigger surprises of the season. He’s averaging 13.8 points on 48.1 percent shooting through five games. He’s shooting 53.8 percent from three and had the biggest shot of the early season, a game-winner against rival Clemson.
South Carolina is off to a 3-3 start to the season with wins over SC State, Clemson and Upstate. The losses have been to Colorado State, Davidson and Furman.
