South Carolina: From Final Four to no postseason

Gamecocks (17-16) left out of NCAA tourney, NIT fields.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — In a year’s time, South Carolina has gone from Final Four to finished earlier than expected.

The Gamecocks’ (17-16) season came to a close Sunday night when the team was not picked for the NIT after an up-and-down season with too many key players to replace from their stunning run to the national semifinals in 2017 and too few big moments this season to qualify them for a second straight NCAA Tournament.

“My guys and our staff gave it everything we had and unfortunately, the Arkansas game was our last opportunity to represent that Gamecock uniform,” coach Frank Martin said Sunday night in a Twitter post.

Martin had said following the loss to the Razorbacks at the Southeastern Conference Tournament the Gamecocks would not play in any non-NCAA postseason event other than the NIT. Still, Martin focused on the positives and potential of his program after he became the first South Carolina coach since the late Frank McGuire to lead the Gamecocks to four consecutive winning seasons. McGuire had 14 straight winning seasons from 1967-80.

“That’s 4 consecutive winning seasons for the first time in a long long time,” Martin’s Tweet continued. “We r still building.”

It’s a project that stalled some after last season.

The surge to the Final Four was led by All-SEC player Sindarius Thornwell and two other seniors in Duane Notice and Justin McKie. Former McDonald’s All-American point guard P.J. Dozier, a two-year starter, left school for the NBA while heir apparent at the spot, Rakym Felder, was suspended for the year after his second arrest in less than a year.

The departures continued during the season as Delaware transfer Kory Holden, expected to provide scoring punch to pick up for Thornwell in the backcourt, left the team in February with continuing knee problems. The result left Martin mixing-and-matching players, many of them new, to find winning combinations.