 "Photo: Keri Goff / The Daily Gamecock")
Darrin Horn tried to tone down expectations in his first media appearance since guard Devan Downey and forward Dominique Archie announced they would pull out of the NBA Draft and play one more season for the Gamecocks, who were SEC East co-champions last season with a record of 21-10 (10-6 SEC).
Downey and Archie, who spent the past few months working out for professional teams in preparation for the NBA Draft, had more to say about their hopes for their senior seasons as Gamecocks.
"I feel real good," Downey said. "We've got a group of guys now who, for the most part, have been playing together for three years. Then we've got some talented freshmen that's coming in and growing every day, so I feel really good about this team."
The 5-foot-9-inch Honorable Mention All-American said he and coach Horn had an understanding that if he wasn't confident he would be selected high enough in the draft, he would return to USC. Despite rumors that he might consider playing in Europe for a year, fueled by comments made by his high school basketball coach, Downey said that was never a serious consideration.
Downey, who averaged 19.8 points per game in 2008-09, said he took advice throughout the process and heard he could be drafted anywhere from the late-first to late-second rounds, but ultimately decided that coming back for another year of school was the best decision for him.
"I think sometimes people look at coming back [to school] as like a bad thing," Downey said. "I think it's a good thing. You talk about the future or financially, sometimes you have to make the best decision for yourself."
Horn, who repeated that he thinks Downey is the best point guard in the nation, said that NBA scouts and analysts should look past his short stature and concentrate more on his performance on the court.
"He can flat-out play and has done it against the best competition in the country, which are the same people that end up playing in the NBA. So I'm kind of excited about this year with him."
With the return of Downey and Archie, along with players like Jarvis Varnado at Mississippi State and Tyler Smith at Tennessee, the SEC looks like it will make a huge rebound from a season in which it only sent three teams to the NCAA tournament. When Kentucky hired John Calipari and his long list of top-end recruits, the Wildcats immediately flew to the top of 2009-10 SEC predictions.
"I'm looking around the country, and I feel like this is going to be the best league in the country, hands down," Downey said. "I don't even think it's going to be close."
At his press conference in the media room of Colonial Life Arena, Horn also said guard Stephen Spinella and small forward Lakeem Jackson are already on campus, while guard Ramon Galloway is expected to arrive for the Summer II session.
Filmed and edited by Jonathan Battaglia
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