One year after using a pre-season last place prediction as motivation all year, Lamont Paris will have to find a different approach this year.
But not too different.
The SEC announced the pre-season polls from league media on Monday afternoon, and South Carolina men's basketball checked in at 11th in the 16-team SEC. It is a big jump from the dead last prediction heading into last season, but significantly further down the board from the fifth place (and tied for second) finish the Gamecocks ended up with last season.
Alabama was picked as the league champions, followed by Auburn, Tennessee, Arkansas and Texas A&M rounding out the top five. The Gamecocks are only ahead of Georgia, Missouri, LSU, Oklahoma and Vandebrilt on the list.
There was one individual honor, though. Sophomore forward Collin Murray-Boyles earned a third-team All-SEC nod, the only Gamecock to make any of the pre-season teams on the men's side.
Over on the women's side, there were a lot more plaudits. As expected, Dawn Staley's crew was the pre-season pick as league champions, coming in ahead of Texas, LSU, Oklahoma and Ole Miss rounding out the top five. South Carolina has won eight of the last 11 regular season SEC championships, and has won 47 consecutive conference regular season games dating back to 2021.
Three Gamecock guard earned individual honors. Te-Hina Paopao earned a first-team All-SEC selection, while Raven Johnson and MiLaysia Fulwiley both checked into the second team.
SEC basketball media days in Birmingham are Tuesday and Wednesday, with Paris scheduled to speak at 10 a.m. ET Tuesday and Staley taking her turn around 2:45 p.m. ET.
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