After a tumultuous offseason that saw him arrested on six charges, Rakym Felder is playing his way to court time and thrusting himself into the conversation for backup point guard this season.
Felder has played in three of the four games for South Carolina this season, compiling 35 minutes of playing time. Yet in these limited minutes, he has shown the ability to score. He has 17 points on the season and has averaged 5.7 points per game.
Hassani Gravett, the redshirt sophomore competing with Felder for time as backup point guard, has put up very similar stats to Felder while playing more than twice the amount of minutes. He has scored 19 points in 75 minutes, and has looked to be the first one off the bench to give a winded PJ Dozier a break.
After the win over South Carolina State, a game in which Felder and Gravett played 17 and 16 minutes respectively, Coach Martin was asked whether he had chosen a backup point guard for the season. Martin, with little hesitation, responded by saying, “I haven’t made that decision.”
Martin then mentioned the incidents surrounding Felder that have caused him not to see enough of Felder for a decision. He highlighted how Felder has only practiced four times this season due to not just his arrest, but also to injury. Felder broke his foot last February and had been unable to play basketball leading up to his arrest in mid-October.
At 5-foot-10-inch, Felder is by far the smallest player on the South Carolina team. Yet he is big-bodied, and at 210 pounds is able to muscle his way past guards who often tower over him. Coming to South Carolina with a reputation as a competent defender and a feel for finishing his shots, though in his limited minutes this season, he has also shown the ability to shoot outside, going three for four from deep, including one for two in the last game against South Carolina State.
It is likely that Martin doesn’t make this decision for some time, or possibly moves Gravett off the point to occasionally play beside Dozier. Martin has already shown this look a few times this season, with Dozier and Gravett playing together against Louisiana Tech. This seemed to take the pressure off both of them, as either could bring the ball up against the press.
The true test for this backcourt and the Gamecock team as a whole begins Wednesday, as they have a brutal two-game stretch against Michigan and Syracuse.