What Frank Martin said about South Carolina's two signees

South Carolina officially signed two in-state big men—Patrick Iriel and Ja’Von Benson—last week, which means Frank Martin can publicly speak about them and he said nothing but good things when he did.

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"I’m unbelievably excited. They’re both 17 years old, so they’re both babies,” Martin said. “They both run. They’re both agile. They both play for tremendous high school coaches. Both play in an environment where work, doing things the right way and being challenged to be a good teammate so you can help your team win happens every single day. They’re both live in structure, so all those things are real important to me.”

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With Maik Kotsar and Micaiah Henry set to graduate after this season, the Gamecocks were losing two big men for next year and Martin said it was a priority to get two fill those needs in those classes, and it just so happens to be two guys who grew up in the Midlands.

Iriel plays at AC Flora while Benson is at Ridge View with both schools less than 30 minutes away from Colonial Life Arena. Because they’re so close to campus, Martin’s been able to watch both play for close to five or six years and seen both grow up so quickly.

“When you add the basketball component, which is the advantage we have as people when we recruit locals, I’ve gotten to see those kids grow up. I’ve been here long enough where guys in high school now I’ve been watching since they were in sixth or seventh grade,” he said. “To see where they were as ninth graders to see where they are now, it’s ridiculous to see how much better they both are.”

Iriel was the first to commit in August and put pen to paper first as well, signing last Wednesday, a day before Benson officially inked and became part of the Gamecocks. Benson committed in mid-October.

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“Patrick is strong as an ox. Contact does not faze him. He’s a relentless rebounder,” Martin said. “Ja’Von has a 7-foot-4 reach, which is what matters in the world of basketball. He’s got huge hands. He’s got deceptive athleticism. You don’t realize how athletic he is until you actually see him in a competitive moment where he lets it out.”

Both have come a long way in four years of high school basketball, but Martin is excited about what they can become as they get into the team’s strength program and keeps the same trajectory.

He said both will obviously get to school and add muscle and thinks they can develop a long-range shot over their time at South Carolina.

“They’re both going to be 245-250 pound guys when they’re 21 years old. They both have great hands and they both have the ability to shoot, which means they can make free throws and make 12 to 14 foot jump shots. With experience they both can make threes from certain places on the floor,” Martin said. “Then they’re both unbelievably competitive.”

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Right now, the Gamecocks are one over their scholarship limit if Seventh Woods, who walked on this season and is sitting out due to transfer rules, goes on scholarship after the season.

Martin really likes what his 2020 brings, mentioning before both players officially signed this group helps with roster stability and adds to good locker room guys into the fold.

“When you go around their high schools, everyone—whether it’s teachers, principals, counselors coaches or teammates—they rave about them. Those are the kind of people you want in locker rooms: people others enjoy being around,” Martin said. “I think they’re both going to be tremendous. Then the obvious fact we have two senior bigs, I thought that was a place of need for us moving forward.”