2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team

The 2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team represented the University of South Carolina during the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The team is led by ninth-year head coach Frank Martin, and play their home games at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, South Carolina as a member of the Southeastern Conference.

2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball
Conference	Southeastern Conference
Record	6–15 (4–12 SEC)
Head coach	Frank Martin (9th season)
Assistant coaches	Will Bailey Chuck Martin Bruce Shingler
Home arena	Colonial Life Arena

2020–21 Southeastern Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 5 Alabama†	16	–	2		.889			26	–	7		.788
No. 10 Arkansas	13	–	4		.765			25	–	7		.781
LSU	11	–	6		.647			19	–	10		.655
Tennessee	10	–	7		.588			18	–	9		.667
Florida	9	–	7		.563			15	–	10		.600
Ole Miss	10	–	8		.556			16	–	12		.571
Missouri	8	–	8		.500			16	–	10		.615
Kentucky	8	–	9		.471			9	–	16		.360
Mississippi State	8	–	10		.444			18	–	15		.545
Georgia	7	–	11		.389			14	–	12		.538
Auburn*	7	–	11		.389			13	–	14		.481
South Carolina	4	–	12		.250			6	–	15		.286
Texas A&M	2	–	8		.200			8	–	10		.444
Vanderbilt	3	–	13		.188			9	–	16		.360
† 2021 SEC tournament winner * Ineligible for postseason due to self-imposed postseason ban.

Previous season

The Gamecocks finished the 2019–20 season 18–13, 10–8 in SEC play to finish in a tie for sixth place. As the No. 6 seed in the SEC tournament, they were set to take on Arkansas in the second round before the remainder of the SEC Tournament was canceled due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Offseason

Departures

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Reason for departure
Micaiah Henry	13	F	6'9"	235	Senior	Decatur, GA	Graduated
Maik Kotsar	21	F	6'11"	270	Senior	Tallinn, Estonia	Graduated
Jair Bolden	52	G	6'3"	215	RS Junior	Brooklyn, NY	Graduate transferred to Butler

Incoming Transfers

Name	Number	Pos.	Height	Weight	Year	Hometown	Notes
Ford Cooper Jr.	44	G	6'3"	187	Sophomore	Charlotte, NC	Transfer from Missouri State

2020 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes

Name	Hometown	High school / college	Height	Weight	Commit date
Patrick Iriel C	Columbia, SC	A. C. Flora (SC)	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	235 lb (107 kg)	Aug 6, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 80
Ja'Von Benson PF	Columbia, SC	Ridge View (SC)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (110 kg)	Oct 18, 2019
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals:   247Sports:    ESPN:   ESPN grade: 78
Tre-Vaughn Minott C	Montreal, QC	NBA Academy Latin America (MX)	6 ft 11 in (2.11 m)	245 lb (111 kg)	Jan 8, 2021
	Recruiting star ratings: Rivals: N/A   247Sports: N/A    ESPN: N/A
Overall recruiting rankings:
Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "South Carolina 2020 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 1, 2021. "2020 South Carolina Gamecocks Recruiting Class". ESPN.com. Retrieved April 1, 2021. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved April 1, 2021.

Roster

2020–21 South Carolina Gamecocks men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown G 00 A. J. Lawson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 177 lb (80 kg) Jr GTA Prep Mississauga, ON G 1 T. J. Moss 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 175 lb (79 kg) RS So Findlay Prep Memphis, TN F 2 Trey Anderson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 205 lb (93 kg) So Mater Dei Catholic San Diego, CA F 4 Jalyn McCreary 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Legacy Early College Marietta, GA G 5 Jermaine Couisnard 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 216 lb (98 kg) RS So Montverde Academy East Chicago, IN F 10 Justin Minaya 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 215 lb (98 kg) RS Jr Northern Valley Regional HS Harrington Park, NJ G 12 Trae Hannibal 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 220 lb (100 kg) So Hartsville Hartsville, SC G 13 Mike Green (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Christian Academy of Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach, SC F 14 Nathan Nelson (W) 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 201 lb (91 kg) Jr Blackman HS Murfreesboro, TN F/C 15 Wildens Leveque 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 242 lb (110 kg) So Gould Academy Brocton, MA F 20 Alanzo Frink 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 264 lb (120 kg) Jr Roselle Catholic HS Jersey City, NJ F 21 Ja'Von Benson 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 253 lb (115 kg) Fr Ridge View HS Columbia, SC G 23 Seventh Woods 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 184 lb (83 kg) RS Sr Hammond School North Carolina Columbia, SC F 24 Keyshawn Bryant 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 195 lb (88 kg) Jr Winter Haven HS Winter Haven, FL G 44 Ford Cooper Jr. 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 187 lb (85 kg) So United Faith Christian Academy Missouri State Charlotte, NC C 50 Tre-Vaughn Minott 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 280 lb (127 kg) Fr NBA Academy Latin America Montreal, QC	Head coach Frank Martin (FIU) Assistant coach(es) Will Bailey (UAB) Bruce Shingler (St. Augustine's) Chuck Martin (Monmouth) Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on Injured Current redshirt Roster

Schedule and results

The exhibition game against Coker scheduled for November 25 was cancelled due to a delay in the delivery of Coker’s COVID-19 testing results.

Date time, TV	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	High points	High rebounds	High assists	Site (attendance) city, state
Regular season
November 25, 2020*		Coker	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic					Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
November 28, 2020* 4:00 p.m, ESPNews		vs. Liberty Hall of Fame Classic Semifinals	L 62–78	0–1	12 – Lawson	7 – Bryant	2 – Tied	T-Mobile Center (0) Kansas City, MO
November 29, 2020* 1:00 p.m., ESPN2		vs. Tulsa Hall of Fame Classic Third Place Game	W 69–58	1–1	20 – Couisnard	9 – Tied	4 – Couisnard	T-Mobile Center (0) Kansas City, MO
December 5, 2020* 6:00 p.m., ESPN+		at No. 10 Houston	L 67–77	1–2	13 – Minaya	7 – Hannibal	3 – Tied	Fertitta Center (1,859) Houston, TX
December 10, 2020* 6:00 p.m., SECN		Wofford	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic					Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
December 14, 2020* 7:00 p.m., CBSSN		at George Washington	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic					Charles E. Smith Center  Washington, D.C.
December 19, 2020* 12:00 p.m., ESPNU		No. 24 Clemson Rivalry	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic					Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
December 23, 2020* 7:00 p.m., SECN		South Carolina State	cancelled due to COVID-19 pandemic					Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
January 2, 2021* 3:30 p.m., SECN		Florida A&M	W 78–71	2–2	25 – Lawson	10 – Minaya	5 – Couisnard	Colonial Life Arena (3,100) Columbia, SC
January 6, 2021 9:00 p.m., ESPNU		Texas A&M	W 78–54	3–2 (1–0)	30 – Lawson	9 – McCreary	5 – Minaya	Colonial Life Arena (3160) Columbia, SC
January 9, 2021 6:00 p.m., SECN		at Ole Miss	postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					The Pavilion at Ole Miss  Oxford, MS
January 12, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2/ESPNU		No. 10 Tennessee	postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic					Colonial Life Arena  Columbia, SC
January 16, 2021 8:30 p.m., SECN		at LSU	L 80–85	3–3 (1–1)	26 – Bryant	10 – Minaya	5 – Tied	Pete Maravich Assembly Center (2,143) Baton Rouge, LA
January 19, 2021 7:00 p.m., SECN		at Missouri	L 70–81	3–4 (1–2)	19 – Bryant	11 – Minaya	5 – Tied	Mizzou Arena (0) Columbia, MO
January 23, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN2		Auburn	L 86–109	3–5 (1–3)	24 – Bryant	10 – Leveque	6 – Couisnard	Colonial Life Arena (3,250) Columbia, SC
January 27, 2021 7:00 p.m., ESPN2		Georgia	W 83–59	4–5 (2–3)	19 – Bryant	10 – Bryant	6 – Hannibal	Colonial Life Arena (3,156) Columbia, SC
January 30, 2021 8:30 p.m., SECN		at Vanderbilt	L 81–93	4–6 (2–4)	21 – Lawson	6 – Bryant	4 – Couisnard	Memorial Gymnasium (78) Nashville, TN
February 3, 2021 6:30 p.m., SECN		at No. 22 Florida	W 72–66	5–6 (3–4)	22 – Lawson	8 – Lawson	2 – Tied	O'Connell Center (2,282) Gainesville, FL
February 6, 2021 3:30 p.m., SECN		Mississippi State	L 59–75	5–7 (3–5)	13 – Tied	10 – Leveque	4 – Couisnard	Colonial Life Arena (3,208) Columbia, SC
February 9, 2021 6:30 p.m., SECN		No. 11 Alabama	L 78–81	5–8 (3–6)	21 – Lawson	7 – Minaya	5 – Couisnard	Colonial Life Arena (3,089) Columbia, SC
February 13, 2021 6:00 p.m., SECN		Ole Miss	L 74–81	5–9 (3–7)	22 – Lawson	9 – Minaya	4 – Hannibal	Colonial Life Arena (3,250) Columbia, SC
February 17, 2021 9:00 p.m., SECN		at No. 19 Tennessee	L 73–93	5–10 (3–8)	20 – Lawson	7 – Bryant	7 – Woods	Thompson–Boling Arena (4,191) Knoxville, TN
February 20, 2021 2:00 p.m., ESPN2		No. 20 Missouri	L 78–93	5–11 (3–9)	22 – Lawson	6 – Leveque	2 – Bryant	Colonial Life Arena (3,176) Columbia, SC
February 24, 2021 7:00 p.m., SECN		at Mississippi State	L 48–69	5–12 (3–10)	14 – Bryant	8 – Minaya	4 – Moss	Humphrey Coliseum (1,000) Starkville, MS
February 27, 2021 1:00 p.m., SECN		at Georgia	W 91–70	6–12 (4–10)	23 – Couisnard	8 – Hannibal	5 – Tied	Stegeman Coliseum (1,638) Athens, GA
March 2, 2021 6:30 p.m., SECN		No. 12 Arkansas	L 73–101	6–13 (4–11)	18 – Lawson	9 – Bryant	7 – Moss	Colonial Life Arena (3,193) Columbia, SC
March 6, 2021 12:00 p.m., ESPN		at Kentucky	L 64–92	6–14 (4–12)	16 – Bryant	6 – Hannibal	6 – Hannibal	Rupp Arena  Lexington, KY
SEC tournament
March 11, 2021 9:30 p.m., SECN	(11)	vs. (6) Ole Miss Second round	L 59–76	6–15	15 – McCreary	6 – Leveque	6 – Moss	Bridgestone Arena (1,809) Nashville, TN
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time.