Another Gamecock enters the transfer portal
South Carolina sophomore guard T.J. Moss has entered the transfer portal, according to a team spokesperson.
Moss is the third Gamecock to enter his name in the portal this week, joining guard Trae Hannibal and forward Jalyn McCreary. There are more than 1,000 Division I basketball players in the transfer portal nationally, largely due to the expectation that the NCAA won’t require transfers to sit out a season.
A 6-foot-4 guard from Memphis, Tennessee, Moss came to South Carolina ranked as a four-star prospect by ESPN.com and a three-star by 247Sports. He played 55 career games for the Gamecocks, including eight starts, and he averaged 3.3 points per game while shooting 32% from the field. He emerged as the team’s starting point guard late this season after injuries to Jermaine Couisnard and Seventh Woods.
With Moss, Hannibal and McCreary all in the transfer portal — and with junior Keyshawn Bryant entering his name in the NBA Draft process — the Gamecocks men’s basketball roster projects to look quite different next season. It is also likely that leading scorer A.J. Lawson will enter his name into the NBA Draft — as he’s done each of the last two seasons. And the backcourt could also lose the senior Woods, who will have a decision to make about his future after the NCAA granted athletes an extra year of eligibility.
It does appear, however, that head coach Frank Martin will remain in Columbia after weeks of rumors about a coaching change. The university has not yet made an official announcement about his status.
Earlier in March, Martin spoke with Kansas City radio station 610 Sports about the challenges of coaching during the current transfer climate.
“Sustaining a high level of winning only happens at a handful programs around the country; everybody else, there’s a rebuilding window,” Martin said. “What’s hurting ... schools like mine is this whole transfer stuff that we’ve been having. How about this — there’s over 700 transfers in the portal right now. We haven’t even started the NCAA tournament, and there’s already 700 transfers. We’ve averaged about 780 transfers a year over the last five years.
“... It’s made it real hard to sustain winning at high levels, so everyone’s going to take a step back and regroup and rebuild it again, and I know that’s what we’re doing.”
This story was originally published March 31, 2021 at 6:07 PM with the headline "Another Gamecock enters the transfer portal."
