Gamecocks pick up another grad transfer

Backcourt depth is starting to become a lesser and lesser issue for the South Carolina Gamecocks with some timely transfers, this one coming in the form of FAU guard Frank Booker.

Booker, a 6-foot-4 guard who’s had stops at Oklahoma and FAU, comes in and will fill an immediate need for the Gamecocks after being passed over by other high-profile transfers like Mark Alstork (Illinois) and C.J. Bryce (NC State). Booker averaged 5.7 points per game on .826/.379/.294 shooting splits while averaging 16.7 minutes a game.

At Oklahoma, he averaged 5.1 points a game on .750/.346/.334 shooting splits while averaging 14.2 minutes a game in two seasons. He was a bench player on the Sooner team that made it to the sweet 16 in 2015. Booker chose Oklahoma over Tennessee, Clemson, Florida State, Georgia and Georgia Tech out of Westside High School in Augusta, Ga.

Booker averaged 28 points per game for the Patriots and led them to four straight playoff appearances while in high school. This all led to him being a three-star prospect his senior which was four years ago.

On one hand, Booker doesn’t boast the gaudy stats of a Bryce or Alstork. He’s never been a regular starter on Oklahoma or FAU. However, considering the Gamecocks are going to be out Sindarius Thornwell, Duane Notice, PJ Dozier, Justin McKie and now Temarcus Blanton — the more depth in the backcourt the Gamecocks can get the better.

Booker will join a tentative backcourt of fellow transfer Kory Holden, rising sophomore and slow-rising fan favorite Rakym Felder with a mix of Evan Hinson and Hassani Gravett. It’s going to be a tall order replacing those departing guards, but the more depth South Carolina can add the better.

As provided by The State, here’s the current basketball roster for South Carolina:

Jarrell Holliman, Sr. w/o

Ran Tut, Sr.

Frank Booker, Sr.

Kory Holden, Jr.

Hassani Gravett, Jr.

Chris Silva, Jr.

Rakym Felder, So.

Maik Kotsar, So.

Khadim Gueye, So.

Tommy Corchiani, So., w/o

Evan Hinson, So., w/o

Christian Schmitt, So., w/o

Jason Cudd, Fr.

Ibrahim Doumbia, Fr.

Felipe Haase, Fr.

David Beatty, Fr.

Justin Minaya, Fr.

w/o Walk-on, doesn’t count toward 13-man scholarship limit