Storylines to watch as Gamecocks start team practice

The Gamecocks start official team practice Monday, getting started with a team Frank Martin said may be his deepest in eight years at South Carolina. They lose some key pieces but bring back six players from last year's roster who made an impact in some way.

Before the Gamecocks get to it on the court, GamecockCentral looks at a few storylines to pay attention to as practice starts and the start of the season inches closer.

Sophomores surging

Outside of Chris Silva and Hassani Gravett, last year's team was relatively young, especially in the backcourt. Freshmen combined for 57 starts in the backcourt with AJ Lawson and Keyshawn Bryant responsible for 54 of those.

Those two guys are going to be pretty vital pieces of this year's team after both had solid freshman campaigns; Lawson has a chance to be a first round pick after this year and Bryant is a budding star player on this year's team.

Also see: Inside notes on Saturday's football snap count

Lawson spent the summer playing for Team Canada while Bryant stayed in Columbia and seemed to get even more explosive than he was as a freshman, which seems to be impossible.

Getting them to continue their development—which Frank Martin says they have—will be something to watch as preseason practice wears on this October.

Justin Minaya's return

The Gamecocks played almost the entirety of last season without their best perimeter defender in Minaya, who went down five games into the year with a knee injury that ultimately sidelined him the remainder of the season.

He's back and full bore this preseason and getting him back into the fold will be big for the Gamecocks defensively and on the glass with Minaya one of the team's better rebounders with a 16.1 defensive rebound rate before getting injured last year.

Where he plays is still up for debate—he'll compete with Bryant for the small forward spot and could potentially play the floor—but getting him back will definitely be a boost.

Also see: Flip candidate Henry Parrish gives the latest on his recruitment

How the Gamecocks will replace Chris Silva

Any time a team loses a four-year starter who was a two-time All-SEC player, All-SEC defensive team and SEC Defensive Player of the Year, questions about replacing him have to come up.

Silva was by far the team's most productive player, leading the team with a 110.5 offensive rating, a 115.5 one in SEC play alone. He was an efficient shot taker last year, a monster rebounded and drew 7.4 fouls per 40 minutes.

It's an obviously big loss but the Gamecocks are hoping guys left on the roster steps up. Maik Kotsar struggled last season but Martin said last week on 107.5 FM Kotsar's looked better in individual work before practice starts.

Martin's raved about freshmen Wildens Leveque and Jalyn McCreary, and the Gamecocks also have Alanzo Frink, who's slimmed down and looks to be in better shape entering his sophomore year. Graduate transfer Micaiah Henry is also expected to contribute heavily this year.

Which freshmen will work their way into the rotation early?

Martin hasn't been bashful in talking about this year's freshman class, saying this group of five guys learn quick and are willing to listen. We've mentioned Leveque and McCreary but Martin said Trae Hannibal has the potential to be a star during his career and Trey Anderson's really impressed the coaching staff through summer workouts.

Also see: More in-depth stats from Saturday's Kentucky win

They also have a non-traditional walk-on in Mike Green, who comes in after a senior year where he averaged 26.5 points his senior year and shot 59 percent from the field, including going 54 percent from three.

The next month will determine which guys will see minutes and see them early, so it'll be important to watch which guys separate themselves.

Style of play

Last year appeared to be the start of the switch over to a faster, up-tempo offense for Martin's team and this year's team may blow the doors off of the tempo stats from last season.

The Gamecocks had an adjusted tempo of 70.2 possessions per 40 minutes, which was the fastest any team under Martin's played over his career dating back to Kansas State.

They did a lot of transition offense last year, getting out with Lawson and Bryant and moving the ball quickly up the court, and there's no reason to believe it won't be a staple of the offense again this year.