Productive Wofford transfer BJ Mack commits to South Carolina basketball
The South Carolina men’s basketball team added an important piece through the transfer portal on Thursday
Former Wofford forward B.J. Mack announced on social media that he has committed to Lamont Paris’ Gamecocks, giving USC a much-needed boost in the frontcourt. The top target for USC this offseason, Mack rounds out an experienced incoming transfer class that also includes former Vanderbilt forward Myles Stute, Minnesota guard Ta’Lon Cooper and The Citadel forward Stephen Clark.
Mack is the third commitment of the day for Paris’ team. Finland’s Morris Ugusuk and Okku Federiko announced their choices Thursday morning from Omnia Academy. Ugusuk, like Mack, is a Class of 2023 while Federiko is the first commit for Class of 2024.
Originally from Charlotte, Mack took an official visit to USC last weekend and chose the Gamecocks over Iowa, Alabama, LSU and Arkansas. He told The State before his visit to Columbia that he liked the vision Paris and his staff had for him at USC and also liked the idea of playing close to home.
Mack projects to start for the Gamecocks right away.
“They see me coming in and being an impact player, kind of having the same role as I did this year at Wofford, being able to be more of like a leader and show my leadership skills,” Mack told The State. “(The coaching staff) showed me how they’ll help me transform my body and my game, but also how I can help them with my game — being able to spread the floor out, be able to have impact as a post player also inside.”
In his last two seasons as an everyday starter for the Terriers, the 6-foot-8 Mack averaged 16 points per game, and he’s averaged 5.2 rebounds per game in his career. Playing for an analytically driven coaching staff at Wofford that encourages 3-point shooting, Mack has refined that part of his game, making 52 of 155 attempts (33.5%) last season.
With the addition of Mack, Paris and the coaching staff addressed one of the team’s most glaring weaknesses from Year 1. Outside of the late-season emergence of 7-foot center Josh Gray, the Gamecocks couldn’t find consistent production from their big men all season, especially from an offensive standpoint. Behind Gray, the undersized 6-foot-5 forward Hayden Brown was USC’s next best option at the 5, with early season starter Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk seeing less time on the court by season’s end.
The Gamecocks have lost five players to the transfer portal since their season ended, including big men Tre-Vaughn Minott and Ja’Von Benson, freshman forward Daniel Hankins-Sanford and guards Chico Carter Jr. and Ford Cooper Jr. Of those transfers, only Carter was a starter for the Gamecocks.
