Where South Carolina basketball ranks in On3's latest portal rankings

South Carolina basketball is overhauling their roster following a 13-19 year in Lamont Paris’ fourth season at the helm. Just two returnees and one freshman are on the roster for next year, leaving several scholarship openings for portal additions.

South Carolina has received four public commitments so far, putting the program at 10th in On3’s latest portal rankings.

On3’s Team Transfer Portal Index utilizes the On3 (P)erformance score to measure a team’s production during the transfer process, compared relative against its roster and not a comparison against other schools. This proprietary algorithm determines if a school has improved its overall team talent, stayed the same, or declined in talent during the transfer window.

The Gamecocks have eight departures in the portal, but their average rating is just 68.50. Meanwhile, the team’s four additions have an average rating of 92.00, per On3. South Carolina has an average player rating higher than that of three teams rated above them in the rankings.

The highest-rated incoming transfer for South Carolina is currently a distinction shared by two players: Kory Mincy and Aleksas Bieliauskas.

Both Mincy and Bieliauskas have a 93 rating from the On3 database. Mincy, the program’s first transfer commit, comes in from George Mason after two seasons at in-state Presbyterian. As a junior last season, the guard averaged 14.3 points per game to go along with 3.6 rebounds per game in 32 starts. He earned second-team All-A-10 for his efforts.

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Power forward Bieliauskas comes in from Wisconsin after averaging 20.1 minutes per game for the Badgers last season as a freshman. His portal ranking of 69th among D-I transfers is the highest of the program’s current batch of transfer commits. Bieliauskas averaged 4.9 PPG and 4.4 RPG for Wisconsin last year. His best game came against Marquette, when he recorded his first career double-double. In 27 minutes, he scored 11 points and brought down 10 rebounds while shooting a perfect 4-4 from the field.

Drexel transfer Shane Blakeney has an 89 rating in the portal, per On3. Blakeney is a South Carolina native who averaged 14.2 PPG for the Dragons last season. Blakeney has an overall ranking of 266 in the On3 portal rankings, the lowest mark of the four portal commits currently. But he produced in the Coastal Athletic Association last season. Blakeney had four games of 20-plus points and scored in double digits in all but five contests.

The fourth commit into the program so far is Texas transfer Cam Heide, with a 90 transfer rating from On3. Heide is just four spots above Blakeney in the rankings at number 262. A premier catch-and-shooter, Heide shot 45.4% from deep last season for the Longhorns. Against South Carolina, Heide scored 12 points and collected five rebounds.

Of the departing players, the highest-rated transfer is Eli Ellis, who sits at 257 in the On3 transfer rankings. No other player leaving the program is ranked within the top 300. Ellis committed to the College of Charleston over the weekend.

With just seven players accounted for on next year’s roster, there’s plenty of space for the Gamecocks’ transfer ranking to move higher up in the top 10. Last season, South Carolina saw 12 players appear in at least 20 games. The transfer portal closed Tuesday, meaning all players with eligibility who are not in the portal must return to their respective schools or go through the NBA draft process.

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