SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

Jermaine Couisnard’s freshman year on campus has been anything but normal.

The first commitment in Frank Martin’s 2018 class, the freshman guard hasn’t been able to play this season dealing with an academic issue, but said Friday it hasn’t affected him much so far this year.

“I’ve just been practicing hard and just worrying about practicing and helping the team get better,” he said.

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Couisnard arrived on campus this summer before returning home to Illinois after the issue was flagged for a few weeks before moving back in August before the start of the following semester.

Head coach Frank Martin has said multiple times this season Couisnard’s issue is an “off-campus” one and said the team is essentially in a “holding pattern” until there is an official ruling on the case.

Martin said earlier this month there isn’t a timeline either for when the team expects a decision to be made.

Through all of it though Couisnard’s been able to practice with the team and he feels he’s ready if he is able to play this season.

“They’ve been telling me to keep practicing and keep working and you never know,” Couisnard said. “We’ll see what happens.”

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If eligible at any point, Couisnard brings immediate offensive help to a team currently rated No. 156 in the nation with a 104 offensive efficiency.

Even Couisnard admitted he’s still learning the defense but thinks he can help offensively if he’s able to play.

“He can really score,” Martin said before the team’s trip to Michigan at the beginning of the month. “He needs to get better defensively. He doesn’t understand how to guard yet. That’s something if he were playing, he probably wouldn’t like me a lot if we were doing defensive drills. Offensively, he’s pretty good.”

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Couisnard, a three-star prospect, played at East Chicago Central (Ill.) before transferring to Montverde Prep School in Florida to play last season, where he ultimately committed to South Carolina in January.

He averaged 29.2 points and 4.3 rebounds his senior season at East Chicago before averaging 23 points, six assists and seven rebounds for Montverde at the time of his commitment, saying that prep year helped him get ready for the college game.

“Just playing against grown men,” Couisnard said. “Everyone’s a grown up out of school. It’s different than high school and just prepared me to go to college.”