Gamecocks have players-only meeting after A&M loss
Losses like Saturday’s haven’t happen much recently at South Carolina. The Gamecocks lost by 23 points to Texas A&M, marking the worst conference loss since Kentucky beat them 34 points in 2015.
Now the team, which is still battling for its postseason life, has to refocus and get ready for another conference game less than 72 hours later.
“It really just punched us in the face and woke us up,” Hassani Gravett said. “Our season isn’t over. Even though our record is what it is, we still have a lot of games left. We can turn this thing around.”
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Since coming back from College Station, Texas, the team held a players-only meeting Sunday to try and clear the air and get back to how they were playing a few weeks ago after upsets over Kentucky and Florida.
Players called the meeting, and a few of the upperclassmen on the team got up and spoke about not dwelling on the past and moving forward and learning from previous mistakes, Gravett said.
Among the players who spoke was Gravett along with Chris Silva and graduate transfer Frank Booker.
“It had nothing to do with the coaches. It had to do with ourselves,” Gravett said. “We were just trying to discuss what we had to do as a group collectively so we can move forward and win games.”
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Since the meeting Sunday, players are seeing some results. Justin Minaya said Sunday’s practice had a “really, really high energy” and the team showed signs of moving forward.
But their head coach said those types of meetings don’t help unless winnings follow.
“Good, hopefully they Kumbaya-ed and drank some hot tea,” Frank Martin said. “If it helps them, good for them. They could have 97 player meetings. You talk all you want, but if you don’t play better those meetings are irrelevant. I’m an actions person.”
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The team is still searching for consistent leadership, Martin said, with different players stepping up at different times this season with no players taking full ownership of the team’s leadership so far.
But, aside from all of that, the Gamecocks still have a chance for a postseason bid with five of the last eight games against teams ranked in KenPom’s top 50.
Martin’s hoping that meeting can spark something and keep his team thinking in the moment rather than lingering on past losses.
“The past the irrelevant and the future is unknown. Don’t dwell on it,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do. If their Kumbaya moment helps them, more power to them.”