Frank Martin doesn’t talk about it. Players may think about it, but it’s not vocalized in practice or in the meeting rooms.

It’s easy to see the effects of South Carolina’s trip to the Final Four last season. There are large banners hanging over the practice facility of Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice and Justin McKie—players that helped make history last March—serving as reminders.

There will eventually be a banner hoisted to the rafters at Colonial Life Arena, but that won’t come until later. Until then, the Gamecocks are just trying to build on the momentum last year’s run created.

“Last year’s success creates an unwritten positive peer pressure within our locker room,” Martin said. “The ones that were in it last year and the ones that are in it this year, they kind of have that unwritten responsibility on each other. And that’s the great thing about winning. It creates an unbelievable amount of responsibility to everybody.”

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South Carolina was a No. 7 seed that upset its way past Duke, Baylor and Florida en route to route to Phoenix, Arizona for the Final Four.

They return four players from that magical run as they try to duplicate that as when the season starts in mid November.

Like Martin said, there’s a responsibility that falls on the players, especially the older ones. It’ll be up to the guys who played significant time over the course of the tournament—Maik Kotsar, Chris Silva, Hassani Gravett—to support the team while young players fill into their roles.

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It’ll take time, Martin said, for player responsibilities to take form. He cited Kostar, who was used primarily defensively and as a rebounder in the regular season but saw his role expand in the tournament.

Stories like that are why Martin’s not even thinking about the Final Four while trying to coach this year’s squad.

“I’m not going to judge this year’s team on last year’s team. That’s not what you do,” Martin said. “The guys that were on our team last year, they’re all going to have different roles and different responsibilities. So it’s my job to help them grow into roles and responsibilities. It’s my job, our team’s job, our coaches' job to help them improve.”

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The Gamecocks start their regular season Nov. 10 at Wofford before their home opener Nov. 13 against Western Michigan. There will also be an exhibition game against Erskine Oct. 30.

Martin’s been vocal about how much he likes his team heading into the 2017 season. The team is close-knit and spends a ton of time in the team’s newly-renovated practice facilities on their own.

That’s a big part of the team’s closeness, Martin said, and it’s something he’s never seen out of his teams here before.

“I can tell you this, five years ago,” Martin said shaking his head. “Three years ago that wasn’t the case. Because we didn’t have a practice facility. Now that we have one, kids don’t hang out. They actually go in the gym and shoot balls.”