Stetson vs South Carolina prediction: South Carolina debuts a rebuilt roster against Stetson's soft interior

A roster built from scratch

Lamont Paris enters his fifth season in Columbia with almost nobody from last season's team. Players on this year's roster logged just 10.3% of the Gamecocks' minutes last season and scored 7.4% of their points. The program lists 12 newcomers on a 15-man roster, including six transfers, international recruits and four-star freshman Marcus Johnson.

That makes last season's 13-19 record a poor guide. Meechie Johnson, who carried the offense at 17.2 points per game, is gone, along with the rest of the starting backcourt. The replacements arrive with real résumés. Kory Mincy scored 14.3 points a game at George Mason and shot 39.1% from three. Shane Blakeney took on a 24.8% usage rate at Drexel, the share of possessions a player ends while on the floor. Camden Heide comes from Texas as a low-volume, high-efficiency wing who shot 45.4% from deep.

The outside world isn't sold. South Carolina was picked last in the SEC media poll for the second straight year. Nov. 3 is the first look at whether the new pieces fit.

Stetson's soft middle

The Hatters' problem last season was the paint. Opponents shot 56.8% on two-pointers against them, 351st of 365 Division I teams, and Stetson blocked shots at a rate that also ranked 351st. Their defensive efficiency, points allowed per 100 possessions, ranked 340th.

South Carolina's new frontcourt should test that early. Jakub Necas posted a 55.3% effective field goal percentage at Duquesne, a measure that counts threes as 1.5 makes. Aleksas Bieliauskas started 28 games at Wisconsin. Neither is a primary scorer, but they don't need to be against a defense that rarely contests at the rim.

Where Stetson can hang around

Stetson's offense lived behind the arc last season. The Hatters took 45.1% of their shots from three and made 36.3% of them, 47th nationally. A hot shooting night is the cleanest path to keeping this close.

The other side of the ledger hurts them. Stetson turned it over on 18.4% of possessions, 282nd, and made just 68.1% of its free throws. South Carolina, by contrast, shot 78.1% from the line last season, 15th in the country. Mincy, an 88.7% free-throw shooter at George Mason, keeps that a strength for the new group. If the game is decided late, that gap matters.

Second night of a road swing

Stetson opens its season at Clemson on Monday, Nov. 2, then plays in Columbia the next night. A road back-to-back to start a season against two power-conference opponents is a tough ask for a team that went 12-21 last season.

The last meeting went badly for the Hatters: South Carolina won 82-51 at home on Dec. 6, 2025. Last season's adjusted net efficiency, points per 100 possessions adjusted for opponents, put the Gamecocks 102nd and Stetson 313th. Both rosters have changed, South Carolina's almost entirely, so treat those ratings as a starting point rather than a verdict. Neither team has reported an injury.