The South Carolina men's basketball team has started the 2025-26 season strong with a record of 4-2 with five new freshman joining the roster. One of the five freshman is forward Hayden Assemian from Greenville, South Carolina.
So far, Assemian is averaging 3.2 points per game and 4.2 rebounds. He set a career-high of eight rebounds and two blocks against Presbyterian, two assists against North Carolina A&T and 6 points against Northwestern.
In his first career start against Presbyterian, Assemian played a total of 14 minutes and had six offensive rebounds and two defensive rebounds, leading to more second-chance opportunities.
"(What) helped me out ... is knowing that we shouldn't really mess up on the stuff we work on every day," Assemian said. "I wasn't really nervous, just excited to have the opportunity and be able to perform."
Head coach Lamont Paris said that Assemian was given the start due to an injury to senior forward Nordin Kapic.
"The next guy in line really had been Hayden," Paris said. "I think Hayden's been one of our most consistent guys."
In the Greenbrier Tip-Off, the Gamecocks played against Northwestern and Butler. Assemian proved he could play against harder competition, as he had two defensive rebounds against Northwestern to go along with 6 points. Against Butler, he had 2 points and one defensive rebound.
Assemian has become a reliable defender with his blocking around the rim, carving out a bigger role for himself on defense. Being 6 feet 6 inches tall and 203 pounds, Assemian's physicality plays a big role in his defensive skills. He has blocked three shots total this season.
In his high school career, Assemian was ranked No. 2 in the state and verbally committed to South Carolina on Sept. 26, 2023. As a junior, he had averaged 15.2 points, 8.6 rebounds, 2.6 blocks and 1.7 assists per game.
Assemian assisted his current teammates freshman guard Eli Ellis and freshman forward Abu Yarmah in the 2024-25 season. Assemian averaged 8.7 rebounds, 1.8 blocks and 1.1 assists per game, while helping the YNG Dreamerz win the Overtime Elite Championship.
Ellis committed to South Carolina on Nov. 15, 2023, and Yarmah had committed on April 28, 2025, after decommitting from High Point University. Ellis said they had all talked about how helpful it was to have a group of guys going through their first year of college basketball.
"They look at me as a great source for them to be able to learn things ... but I don't think they realize they're a bigger help to me as well," Ellis said. "Just having people I already know here and I know they have my back and people that I've known for years ... We stick together."
That same dynamic applied to Assemian, who grew alongside those teammates and became a quiet but steady piece of the bond Ellis described from their season at Overtime Elite.
While Assemian's scoring output in his high school season with the YNG Dreamerz was just 5.3 points, much of his role was to protect the basket and rebound.
Entering his freshman year of college, his ability to rebound and block has helped him see minutes early as a freshman. In his first few games with the Gamecocks, Assemian has shown an improvement in his defensive skills around the rim.
"He has elite effort that you couldn't do if you were trying to concentrate to make yourself play that hard all the time," Paris said. "You either are that person already, or you're not ... He plays really hard," Paris said.