South Carolina men’s basketball will get an early test on Oct. 15 when it meets Wake Forest in “The Scout Exhibition” at the Rock Hill Sports & Event Center in Rock Hill, S.C.
Tickets are on sale now, with prices starting at $57.88.
The Gamecocks are entering the matchup after a 13-19 season, but the roster looks very different this time around. South Carolina brings back three lettermen from last year’s team, including Grant Polk, who played in 30 games and averaged 12.9 minutes and 3.8 points while shooting 32.9 percent from three-point range. The program also went into the transfer portal aggressively, adding nine transfers among 12 new faces on the roster.
Before this exhibition, South Carolina picked up some useful run in the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League earlier in the fall. The Gamecocks beat Victoria (Canada) 94-81 and then rolled past The Bahamas National Team 86-46. Kory Mincy and Aleksas Bieliauskas both scored in double figures in each game, with Mincy averaging 16.5 points and Bieliauskas averaging 13 points against The Bahamas.
Wake Forest arrives after finishing the 2025-26 season at 18-17 overall and 7-11 in the ACC. The Demon Deacons are coached by seventh-year head coach Steve Forbes.
Forbes and Paris already know each other well from their days as Southern Conference rivals, when Forbes was at East Tennessee State and Paris was at Chattanooga. Like South Carolina, Wake Forest is expected to lean heavily on new additions in 2026-27.
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Beamer did at least offer some encouraging news on the health front, saying Carter Miller, Maurice Brown and DJ Black are expected to be available for Saturdays game. South Carolina still has one big unknown as it prepares for the 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff on the SEC Network, but getting those names back in the mix should give the Gamecocks a better chance to settle in once the conference schedule begins. [Read more 🡒]
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Now the attention shifts to South Carolina, where the matchup carries added appeal because of the quarterbacks involved. Taylor has already helped push Mississippi State into a fast start, while LaNorris Sellers gives the Gamecocks a different kind of test as the two teams get ready to meet. It is the kind of early-season SEC game that can tell you a lot about where each program stands, and Mississippi States quick opening makes the stakes feel a little bigger than they did a week ago. [Read more 🡒]