Rakym Felder’s South Carolina basketball career officially over

The offseason is still young, but the hits keep coming for the South Carolina men’s basketball team: Coach Frank Martin announced Monday that suspended point guard Rakym Felder will not be returning to the Gamecocks next season.

Felder enjoyed a promising freshman year at South Carolina, averaging 5.6 points and 1.3 assists while blossoming into one of the team’s biggest role players during the Final Four run. But an arrest in July 2017 landed him in Martin’s doghouse, and while those charges were dropped, he remained indefinitely suspended. Working his way back into the program’s good graces, Felder re-enrolled in January, but Martin continued to hold him out despite the Gamecocks’ struggles at guard this season.

Felder is now the fourth departure this offseason, joining young big men Khadim Gueye and Ibrahim Famouke Doumbia and guard David Beatty, who all chose to transfer. Additionally, Chris Silva and Brian Bowen have submitted their names to the NBA Draft, though neither player has hired an agent and still has the option to return to South Carolina.

Losing Felder is a big blow to the Gamecocks, who are in desperate need of some backcourt help. South Carolina has three scholarships available and we’re still awaiting the final word on Silva and Bowen, so we’ll just have to see how the roster shakes out.