SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

Maik Kotsar sat at the podium minutes removed from arguably the worst loss of his career at South Carolina.

The senior who played in a Final Four as a freshman looked shell-shocked and, when asked about how this loss happened, pondered for a second before answering.

“I really don’t have a good answer for you,” he said. “It shouldn’t happen. It really shouldn’t. That’s on me. Everything is on the leaders of the group. There’s no one else really to blame because a lot of other guys are inexperienced. We need to be the ones to bring the energy and have everyone mentally ready. If there’s anyone to blame, it’s me.”

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The Gamecocks lost 63-56 to Stetson, the No. 321 team in KenPom with one glaring issue coming to the forefront as the non-conference slate ended.

There isn’t a vocal leader on the team, and it showed as they dropped a game to the Hatters, which is a pressing issue as South Carolina starts SEC play next week.

It’s something Frank Martin’s been bemoaning for the majority of the season and it reared its head again last week.

“Know what immature people do? Know how immature people handle adversity? They get real quiet and hide. That’s what immature people do when they hit adversity,” Martin said. “Know what we had a bunch of guys do today? Get real quiet and hide. They didn’t want to be the ones to get blamed.”

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The Gamecocks (8-5) have a relatively young team with just two seniors and three sophomores—two true and one redshirt—in the starting lineup.

Martin said Kotsar is trying to take the reigns but hasn’t done it fully yet and there are no other players who are stepping up to lead the team.

“There’s some guys on our team, they better go back to their dorm room today, put their hands together and get down on their knees and pray for the New Year that I don’t end up recruiting another Michael Carrera or Sindarius Thornwell here because they would be having a bad, bad night today and bad days leading to the next game. I don’t have that right now. I don’t have anyone on my team that has that kind of personality to demand others do things the right way.”

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Now comes the hard part for South Carolina, entering SEC play without an established leader.

It’s something they’ll need to figure out with Florida coming to Colonial Life Arena for a 7 p.m. tip-off Tuesday to start a pivotal stretch in conference play.

“You can’t fake the funk man. You have to be who you are,” Frank Martin said. “The games don’t go away. We have to go out and perform in front of people and compete. You can’t fake the funk. You’ll get exposed. When you’re not prepared to go do what you’re supposed to do and be excited about the opportunity. That’s the immaturity with this team I can’t figure out. I have to figure it out. This is what will give me peace as I lay in bed tonight staring at the ceiling. For 34 years I’ve been able to figure it out.”