South Carolina's 2025 men's basketball mirrors 2023 tournament team in key way

South Carolina’s men’s basketball hit the transfer portal in a big way this offseason, bringing in five experienced transfers, including the return of Meechie Johnson Jr.

The experience that head coach Lamont Paris brought in for the new season mirrors his 2023-24 NCAA Tournament team in his eyes.

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“There’s no doubt that this team looks more like that team in terms of the overall level of experience,” Paris said last Thursday on 107.5 The Game. “We have five guys that are or should end up (as) 1000-point scorers. We have more guys that have started a game out of the entire roster than we’ve had.”

Right now, heading into the 2025 season, South Carolina’s list of career 1000-point scorers on the roster starts and ends with Johnson. However, Myles Stute begins the 2025 season as the next likely candidate to join him with 972 career points. Behind Stute sit Kobe Knox (780) and Mike Sharavjamts (680), both within 400 points.

The Gamecocks’ 2025 roster also enters with a combined 409 career starts spread across its 15 players. That number is an increase of almost 200 from a season ago (218).

“We weren’t completely inexperienced last year, I wouldn’t say that,” Paris said on the Southeastern 16 podcast on Sept. 19. “But, relative to the rest of our league, who was tremendously experienced, we had some deficiencies there.”

College Basketball has become a game where an experienced team is more likely to win games. It won’t always be the most talented teams with the most NBA prospects that will win. Fellow SEC team, the Florida Gators, won last year’s national championship with four seniors, including stars Alijah Martin and Walter Clayton Jr.

South Carolina’s roster in 2025 features six seniors, including three graduates. Five of the six are expected to feature heavily in Paris’ rotation for 2025.

Three of the transfers have more than 70 career starts. However, they all trail the returning Stute’s 90, which is the most on the team. The return of Johnson to South Carolina also brings a former All-SEC player back to the nation’s premier conference.

“Make no mistake, Meechie is undoubtedly a leader on this team if not the leader on this team,” Paris said. “I don’t really say that, ‘This guy’s our captain.’ I really don’t do that really. I think letting those (things) happen organically is the best way.”

The experience also helps the team gel quicker as the season approaches, Paris said.

“Just, maturity of being comfortable with yourself as a player. You’re not always trying to prove something, so you’re more likely to accept the thing that the coaches are telling you,” Paris said. “So I think, just in terms of the team gelling, that’s a big part of it.”

South Carolina gets its first look at its new team on Oct. 26 in an exhibition against North Carolina State in Greensboro.

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