South Carolina was hoping to get more out of its season with the arrival of transfers Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick in the backcourt, but the Gamecocks got off to a struggling start and, though they had their moments, never could get a consistent attack going in the SEC.

The main positive was they won three games on the road in conference play and managed to avoid finishing in last place in the SEC's Eastern Division.

The Gamecocks lost a bunch of close games -- two points to North Carolina State, one point to George Mason, and three points to UNC-Asheville in the non-conference portion of their schedule. In SEC play, they lost by two points and three points to Florida, one to Vanderbilt, and five to Mississippi State in overtime after leading by three in the closing seconds of regulation.

But at the same time they also took some big hits. They lost their two regular-season meetings against Tennessee by a total of 57 points and lost by 18 to Georgia on the road.

And they also lost their coach.

Dave Odom announced in January this would be his last season. But the job went to Western Kentucky boss Darrin Horn, who took the Hilltoppers to the Sweet 16. At South Carolina, Horn has a veteran crew to work with.

Only one senior, Dwayne Day, departs. The top five scorers and top two rebounders return.

The Gamecocks hope to build on their performance in the SEC tournament. They beat LSU in the first round and lost to Tennessee by two points on Chris Lofton's 3-pointer with 11.4 seconds left.

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