South Carolina will be without one of its most veteran players to start the season, Frank Martin announced Monday.

Keyshawn Bryant will be suspended for the first five games of the season for violating athletic department policy, Martin said.

He didn't dive into the situation but said it was something he didn't find out about yesterday. Bryant has also dealt with a knee injury this preseason.

“I’m not going to expand too much into that, I have too much respect for Keyshawn to give up too many details of his situation. This is not something I found out about yesterday. He has battled a knee in preseason,” Martin said. “He could have played against Benedict but I didn’t play him because of his knee. His knee’s in a good place right now but this is a decision that had to be made.”

Bryant will miss the USC Upstate game Tuesday, then games against Princeton, Western Kentucky or Minnesota, UAB and Wofford.

He's coming off a career year that saw him average 14.4 points on 48.3 percent shooting and haul in 5.4 rebounds per game.

“He’s with us every day in practices and in great spirits," Martin said. "He’s my guy. Unfortunately, this is something I had to announce today.”

The Gamecocks start their season Tuesday night against Upstate on the SEC Network Plus.

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