Teammates, Martin share impressions of Bolden, Couisnard
SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL
South Carolina fans may know the names of the two guards that had to sit out last season—Jair Bolden and Jermaine Couisnard—but don’t have the full picture of what either guy can do on the court.
But two backcourt players, who are expected to have key roles on the court next season, have been practicing for over a year and their teammates like what they’ve seen so far.
“Jair’s going to bring a lot to the table; I think he’s going to open a lot of eyes,” Hassani Gravett said. “He’s very fundamental in his game and can really stroke it when he shoots. I think he’s going to bring a lot to the table.”
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Bolden had to sit out last season after transferring in from George Washington where he started 40 games in two years for the Colonials.
In that time he shot 36.5 percent from the field—32.3 percent from three—averaging 7.9 points over his career. In his final year on campus before transferring he averaged 11.2 points and three rebounds a game while shooting 41.5 percent from inside the arc and 36.8 percent overall.
Those stats, though, can be a bit deceiving.
Frank Martin said Bolden fell victim to taking a lot of bad shots at his previous stop and has worked during the season with him on cutting those down and getting more high-percentage looks on offense.
The Gamecocks are hoping to utilize his big frame (6-foot-3, 210 pounds) as a physical guard that can hit shots in the paint and also knock down perimeter looks and he could thrive in that role if that bad shot percentage goes down.
He could also probably get better looks in the Gamecocks’ offense this year with guys like AJ Lawson, Keyshawn Bryant and Justin Minaya there to help space the floor a little better.
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“He can really, really score. I knew he could score but he was taking, on film, some bad shots. His shooting percentage for a guy that takes a lot of bad shots is what it is or what it was,” Martin said. “But the percentages in college, we’ve tried to get him to play more aggressively towards the rim. He’s growing at that. He’s got space now and he’s a problem shooting the ball: a problem for the other team, not us.”
Couisnard also sat out this season, but for a little bit of a different reason that Bolden, missing this year dealing with an academic issue.
After redshirting last season because of that, he’ll enter this season as a redshirt freshman with the expectation of him being an immediate help offensively.
“He can really score,” Martin said. “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 averaged 29.2 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists in his senior season at East Chicago Central before spending a postgrad year at Montverde Academy in Florida.
A known scorer, Martin said the 6-foot-4, 202 pound guard needs to continue developing his defense but his offensive ability is something that can help a team right away.
Martin knows that and it didn’t take his Gamecock teammates to realize that, either.
“I actually hosted him on his recruiting visit and that’s when I started to get to know him,” Gravett said. “We played some pick up, I started to see his game for real and thought really highly of that.”