Where national experts rank Gamecocks this offseason
It's the basketball offseason, which means it's time for annual preseason power rankings months before practice even starts and games begin.
But, even this far out from the scheduled start of the 2020 season, the Gamecocks are getting some respect from two of college basketball's biggest national experts with both Stadium's Jeff Goodman and Jon Rothstein considering them top 50 teams next season.
Goodman released his top 50 teams in college basketball next season with the Gamecocks making the cut at No. 49 overall with only six teams in the SEC ranked ahead of them.
Also see: Breaking down AJ Lawson's decision
Alabama (18), Tennessee (20), Kentucky (24), Arkansas (28), Auburn (34) and LSU (43) were all ranked ahead of them but, if that holds, finishing seventh in what's expected to be a stacked SEC next season could be enough for a solid NCAA Tournament resume.
Rothstein previously had the Gamecocks as his No. 41 team in the country immediately after the season, but he's recently updated his list as players made NBA draft announcements and the Gamecocks are up three spots to No. 38 in the country.
In his rankings, the Gamecocks are behind just four other teams from the SEC: Tennessee at 15, Florida at 18, Kentucky coming in at No. 19 and LSU at 26.
Rothstein also projects a starting lineup that includes AJ Lawson, who's declared and enter his name in the draft pool while maintaining his eligibility. Jermaine Couisnard, Keyshawn Bryant, Justin Minaya and Wildens Leveque are the other projected starters.
If that holds, then the Gamecocks would have four top five finishes in the SEC over their last six years.
The Gamecocks are coming off a solid 18-13 season where they finished sixth and at 10-8 in the SEC and, barring a deep SEC Tournament run, were likely lining up a NIT berth before the Coronavirus canceled the basketball season.
Also see: Breaking down some of Mike Bobo's best offensive performances
They finished No. 69 in KenPom's final season rankings and No. 66 in the final NET rankings.
If Lawson opts to return for his junior season, the Gamecocks will return four of their five starters from last year's team and nine of their top 10 scorers and eight of their top minute getters in SEC play.
