USC to face Kentucky Wesleyan in exhibition
Coach Darrin Horn needed just four words to summarize South Carolina’s attitude as it heads into its lone exhibition game of the season:
“It’s time to play.”
The Gamecocks will host Kentucky Wesleyan at 7 p.m. tonight as a final tune-up before they kick off the regular season against Western Carolina next week.
“I think it’s a good thing for our guys, it’s a good thing for us as a coaching staff to have someone to go play, to get under the lights and just really see how we do,” Horn said, speaking to a group of reporters Wednesday afternoon. “This team is going to be a continual work in progress. We have a lot of work to do, but it’s going to be good to get out and play somebody else.”
The matchup will allow two true freshmen, Anthony Gill and Damien Leonard, to make their debuts in a Gamecock uniform. Horn said he has been impressed by their progress in practice.
“I think mentally, they’re a little further along than a lot of freshmen are,” Horn said. “They’ve got a great deal of confidence in what they do and how they play the game. They both approach it that way every day. I think they’re a little further along than I thought they would be, especially on the defensive end.”
Leonard is expected to improve the team’s outside shooting, while Gill brings a combination of physical and mental skills to the floor.
“[Gill] does a little bit of everything,” Horn said. “He has a good feel and understanding. He’s physically ready. He finishes things with people hanging on him sometimes. He’s just a basketball player.”
Horn did not announce a starting lineup, saying it doesn’t matter to him or the players who the starting five are. The Gamecocks will count on contributions from every player in the rotation, including sophomore forward Damontre Harris, who was given full clearance to play after battling a right foot injury.
Defense, however, is already a major concern for USC, despite contributions from its freshmen.
“We have a long way to go before we’re good defensively,” Horn said. “The one big thing that’s not going as well as it’s going to need to — and I don’t think this is a surprise to us — we’ve got to be better at rebounding the basketball.
“Defensively, we’re going to have to focus on being a good block-out team and being aggressive. We’re going to make major strides in that area.”
The Gamecocks finished ninth in total rebounds per game last year, and as USC prepares to open its season, the emphasis will be on constant improvement on defense.
“We see things that we like and we’re encouraged by, probably more so than anything, that we feel like we make a little progress every day,” Horn said. “We tell the guys we have to focus on something, and there’s a great effort to go out there and get better. I think it’s a team that’s going to be like that as the year goes on.”