Gamecock greats impressed with Muschamp after two seasons

Most of the guys playing in Friday’s celebrity basketball game never played under Will Muschamp, never went through a practice or took a snap with him on the sidelines during game day.

But that hasn’t stopped them from seeing a lot of positives in how he’s changed the program over the last two seasons and now heading into his third.

“I love his energy. I love what he brings, his competitiveness. He installed that discipline into those guys, something we weren’t all about when I was in college,” Pharoh Cooper said. “I like the attitude he installed in those players.”

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After taking over for a program that finished 3-9 the year before, Muschamp is 15-11 in his first two seasons at the helm and has gone from one win in 2015 to a combined 10 SEC wins in 16 tries.

Those records have built some momentum on the recruiting trail as well with the Gamecocks holding the No. 11 overall recruiting class and an average star rating of 3.4.

The recruiting aspect has thoroughly impressed a lot of former players like Mike Davis, who said the staff now has “guys that want to come here and play.”

“The recruiting has upped,” Victor Hampton said. “We were all looking forward to that. I think we’re on the up and up. I expect no less than 10 wins this year.”

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Among the players that were at Friday’s celebrity basketball game hosted by former Gamecock great DJ Swearinger were All-conference players that turned All-Pro and even those players are impressed with what Muschamp’s been able to do.

Melvin Ingram, who’s a Pro Bowler for the Los Angeles Chargers, said Muschamp is definitely a coach he’d want to play for and he’s “getting this program back to where it needs to be.”

“Everything about him,” Ingram said about what impresses him about Muschamp. “From the way he handles his player to everything. It’s super dope.”

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For Muschamp, his goal has been and will continue to be getting South Carolina back to where the program was just five short years ago coming off three-straight 11-win seasons.

And the players that have been around a lot over the last two seasons and have seen it first hand don’t think it’ll be too much longer of a wait.

“I love what Coach Muschamp is doing,” Swearinger said. “He’s trying to get us back to the glory days when all these guys were here. We’re trying to get back to the same tradition.”