The question could barely be finished before Artis Maddox jumped into his answer.
Maddox, the head coach at Benedict, just coached 40 minutes against a newly retooled Gamecock team and, when asked who stood out among a team of newcomers, he knew exactly where to go.
“Oh, (number) zero: Reese.”
“Man, I know he was good at North Texas but it was different seeing him in person. He’s a heck of a player. He’s a big guard, strong, he can really shoot it, he can handle it, always poised and always under control,” Maddox said.
“Then (Erik Stevenson) he shot the ball very well. We lost him a couple times and he made some open threes. They have big guards and that was without Keyshawn and Couisnard. I think South Carolina’s heading in the right direction and have a chance to be really good.”
Also see: Takeaways from Thursday's exhibition win
For Reese—who put up a game-high 21 points on a nearly-perfect 9-for-11 shooting with three three-pointers—this wasn’t his first time playing at Colonial Life Arena.
The former AC Flora standout and graduate transfer by way of Buffalo then North Texas grew up going to team camps at the CLA and grew up wanting to play at South Carolina.
Thursday was his first chance, and he not only started but also put up the performance of the night in a moment he said was everything he imagined.
“When we went to walk out, I had to walk out by myself a little bit and close my eyes and soak it all in,” he said. “I couldn’t soak it in too much so I wouldn’t play bad. Man, I wanted to get emotional but I’ve been playing college basketball a long time. I took it all in but let it go real fast.”
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Reese is the talk of the preseason, turning into one of the Gamecocks’ most consistent players and leaders along with Wichita State and Washington transfer Erik Stevenson.
The two combined to score 35 of South Carolina 101 points on 14-for-23 shooting and went 7-for-15 for three. Stevenson led the team in three pointers made (four) and both are showing they can offer up some much-needed shooting for a team that ranked 304th nationally in three-point percentage last season.
“That’s why we were brought here. We have to shoot the ball. We have to shoot the ball well. That shouldn’t be a surprise to us or our teammates or you guys. You know that about us,” Stevenson said.
“Offensive flow, I thought it was better than it has been. Practicing against a team that’s always in line and pressuring the ball and always in the passing line is tough to run our offense against a team like that every single day. It’s refreshing to see us actually be able to get our second or third or fourth option when it comes to our system and our flow.”
Also see: Gamecocks expected to get visit from ACC commitment
Both are older players, coming to South Carolina after stops at multiple Division I opportunities and brought and air of maturity to the program this season, something Frank Martin welcomes.
“They signed up for that the first day they showed up on our campus. They both signed up for that responsibility. They understand what we do better than everyone on our team and they’ve been on campus for three months,” Martin said.
“Three and a half months they’ve ben doing what we do. They’re big time dudes and they’re competitive. They care. They’re in the gym every day in the morning, every night shooting balls. They’ve brought in an excitement for all of us to be around.”
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