What Lawson's return means for the Gamecocks

SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS BASKETBALL

In recruiting, some pick ups are bigger than others. South Carolina saw that again Tuesday afternoon.

No, South Carolina didn't add some high school phenom, Rivals150 player or a big grad transfer, but added something just as important to next year's roster.

That would be guard AJ Lawson, the Gamecocks' do-it-all guard, who announced he'd be withdrawing from the NBA Draft and coming back to Columbia for at least one more year.

His re-addition to next year's roster didn't come as a surprise, but was met with a lot of excitement from the fan base and Frank Martin himself, calling Lawson a nine-star recruit: four earned in high school, five in college (the math checks out).

But him coming back for his sophomore season is more than just bringing back the nation's likely first over five-star recruit.

So why is Lawson's return important? I'm glad you asked.

Let's start with this: Lawson's freshman season was one of the better first years on campus in recent memory, becoming the first Gamecock on the SEC's All-Freshman team since Sindarius Thornwell in 2014.

He joins Thornwell, Michael Carrera, Bruce Ellington, Mike Holmes, Dominique Archie and Renaldo Balkman as Gamecocks to make the conference's freshman team with all six of those players going on to have pretty good careers in Columbia.

Lawson finished his freshman season averaging 13.4 points and 4.3 rebounds while shooting 41.1 percent from three and finishing with a 47.7 effective field goal percentage.

His 23.7 shot percentage in SEC play was 23rd in the conference last year and he was 19th in three-point percentage, shooting 38.8 percent during the league schedule and there's no reason to think he can't continue that (if not improve on it) as he comes back for his sophomore year.

After an ankle injury limited him the final three weeks of the season, Lawson is fully healthy heading back to Columbia.

Incorporating that back into the fold would be exciting enough on its surface, but gets better if you look at the big picture and the pieces surrounding Lawson next year.

Keyshawn Bryant comes back for his sophomore season after averaging nine points, 3.8 rebounds and shooting 45.4 percent with his fair share of highlight-reel dunks his first year on campus.

The team's best defender two years ago Justin Minaya comes back from injury and is fully healthy.

They also return TJ Moss from injury, Alanzo Frink for his sophomore year while Jermaine Couisnard finally gets some playing time after sitting out dealing with an academic issue, plus Jair Bolden is eligible after sitting out his transfer year.

Not to mention the five-man recruiting class that includes two Rivals150 players (Trae Hannibal and Jalyn McCreary), a plug-and-play big man grad transfer in Micaiah Henry and two others in Trey Anderson and Wildens Leveque that will make an immediate impact as well.

All of that, coupled with Lawson's return usually lends itself to optimism surrounding the program.

Lawson thrives in space and in transition, and with so many pieces returning that can space the floor, it looks like Lawson (and Bryant, Minaya and others) will have plenty of space to maneuver and get to the basket.

The Gamecocks also played the fastest they have under Frank Martin, the fastest tempo since 2009, and with Lawson returning and settling in at one of the guard spots, it could mean operating at even more of a breakneck speed.

And, with Hannibal coming in along with Moss and Bolden—all of which can play the point—it could give Lawson the opportunity to play off the ball and do more in the offense not having to run things.

Lawson's still projected as a first-round pick in the 2020 NBA Draft, and could be the first Gamecock picked in the first 30 picks since Renaldo Balkman in 2006 (No. 20 overall).

Any time a team can bring a future first round pick back to school usually means good news.

So no, the Gamecocks didn't add some five-star guard in the 2019 class (the class is now full with Lawson officially returning) but his reappearance in Columbia was just as good as any recruiting trail win.