Hartsville PG Trae Hannibal signs with South Carolina men's basketball

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS MEN'S BASKETBALL RECRUITING

HARTSVILLE, S.C. - Surrounded by friends, family, coaches and teachers in a packed Hartsville (S.C.) gym, Trae Hannibal signed his National Letter of Intent Thursday morning, officially becoming a Gamecock in the process.

"I'm just blessed," Hannibal said. "First I want to thank God, because without him none of this would be possible. But I thank my family, my teammates, my coaches and everybody for pushing me hard and my trainers. I'm just blessed to be in this position."

"It means a lot to be able to play for my home state and my hometown team," he added. "That means a lot and I thank them for the opportunity."

The 6-foot-2, 195-pound three-star point guard committed to the Gamecocks in June, choosing South Carolina over Oklahoma State.

"The main thing they preached to me was family and that meant a lot," Hannibal said of the Carolina coaches. "They contacted me every week - phone calls, texts messages, sending me mail here and there - it's just that they kept in contact. They let me know what I need to work on; they didn't sugarcoat anything, and that meant a lot."

Hannibal, who plans to major in business and minor in sports marketing, is known as an athletic facilitator who can also score on offense and a strong defender on defense.

He hopes to bring those qualities to Carolina as a freshman and has paid attention to freshmen like A.J. Lawson and Keyshawn Bryan, who are already contributing as freshmen for the Gamecocks this season.

"Just coming in and being aggressive," Hannibal said. "Just doing what I do now, being aggressive and getting to the basket and just playing hard defense."

Hannibal has sat in on multiple South Carolina practices, taking note of the way head coach Frank Martin pushes his players, and he believes Martin's program offers a perfect fit.

"Growing up, I was always coached hard," Hannibal said. "I never liked the soft way of being coached. He's going to teach me a lot about life on and off the court. With him, he's only going to make me better."

Hannibal is ranked the No. 37 point guard in the 2019 class by Rivals.

South Carolina has already announced the signing of Wildens Leveque, a 6-foot-9, 210-pound center prospect from Bethel (ME.) Gould Academy, to its 2019 class.

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