SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

It’s one thing to say something in the offseason and it’s another to do it when the attention is on you.

For Hassani Gravett, he spent the offseason talking about how comfortable he was in his redefined role after an up-and-down junior year and, as the Gamecocks sit 2-0 in SEC play largely because of him, he’s been able to back up the talk on the floor.

“Hassani’s grown up a lot,” Frank Martin said. “You know me and him have had our roller coaster ride. He’s grown up a lot; he’s grown up as a kid and as a player, which has allowed him to have success and allowed his team to have to success…Some guys never buy in. He’s starting to buy in.”

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Gravett, who started 22 games last year, has primarily come off the bench in his senior season in a role he’s embraced fully and is thriving as the spark coming in as a substitute.

He’s averaging a career-best 11.3 points and shooting 47.4 percent from the field. He’s been one of the team’s best players through two conference games, averaging 19.5 points per game and shooting 54.1 percent.

He’s also had an average offensive rating of 131.5, which is good for 12th in the SEC during conference play so far. He’s 11th in effective field goal percentage (66.7) as well, which measures shot efficiency.

It’s a stark difference from last year where Gravett had a 97 offensive rating and a 48.6 effective field goal percentage and a lot of it has to do with him feeling comfortable in his simplified role playing off the ball.

“I think coach is trying to get his job easier and just try to make him not think a lot,” Chris Silva said. “When he was a point guard, he had so many options go through his head, he was struggling Coach said he’s a better guy on the wing and just making plays happen.”

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Last year, due to injuries and lack of players, Gravett was thrust into playing the point guard position, something that required him to do things out of his skill set.

Gravett’s cat-like quickness and athleticism couldn’t flourish in that role and that—coupled with an ankle injury that weighed on him mentally—he spent the majority of the season frustrated.

“Hassani’s just a guy that’s pretty hard on himself. It doesn’t matter what he does; he wants perfection,” Silva said. “If he does something wrong you don’t need to talk to him.”

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But, that’s a thing of the past. He’s playing the best he’s played during his three-year career at South Carolina and is free to showcase the things he’s best at on the court.

Because of that, he’s taking on more of a leadership role with some of the team’s freshmen, something he couldn’t do in years past, along with Silva and Maik Kotsar.

“Hassani, believe it or not, has been really good there,” Martin said. “They weren’t ready, but all three have taken big steps there and especially over the last month.”