The McGuire Room

Doubt it. More likely he heads overseas and has a very good career and makes some solid money.

I will try to put together an article this week that has some information on how things are going.

Hindsight is 20/20, so, these are opinion questions based on what we've seen the past few years....

is Gregg Marshall a better coach than Darrin Horn?
would USC be in better shape as a program if we had hired GM after Odom?
has Horn showed you anything, in a good way, that you didn't expect from him?
based on the first 3 years, how many more would you give Horn if you were the AD?

I think it will likely be in June. I believe Horn has likely decided who he will hire but by not making it official that coach can be on the road watching recruits at AAU tournaments right now and even talking to them at these events. It is a tactic that is used a good bit when hiring somebody that has been out of work because it can help with that coach having built relationships during the past two months.

While I do not have any names to toss out, I do think head way has been made and likely Horn has his man. Again, I have always believed that do to the problems at South Carolina with lack of job security that Horn will more than likely have to hire a guy out of a job right now. That means they are allowed to be at AAU events scouting each weekend and even talking with recruits.

If Horn waits until the end of May he can hire a guy who has been on the road basically already recruiting the past two months while other coaches have been sitting on their hands waiting on reports from scouts.

What do you mean by "elite"? Is it McDonalds A-As? Is it five stars? Is it top 30? How would you define it? And which elite players has Horn been in the picture for since he became the USC coach?

I would really like to hear the context that he said this in because I can't believe that a Gamecock Club staffer would be commenting publicly on situations regarding the basketball team. Aaron is a great guy and has connections with some of the players but I can't believe he would be commenting on a situation like this given the past few months and players leaving the program. It only helps to stoke the flames and for anybody that is on the staff of the basketball staff to make this comment would be an eye opener but a Gamecock Club representative is astonishing in my book.

With that said I know that more than one player met with Darrin Horn and Eric Hyman to discuss the future and that their questions were more than answered. The players have moved on and the situation as far as I know is now calm and I do not expect anymore movement from anybody on the team.

No I think it is solid. I do think they have made some mistakes but by and large it has been better than the previous regime. People get caught up in the one solid class of Odom that included Kelly, Wallace, Gonner and Balkman but all in all the recruiting at South Carolina has been sub par for the past 10 years or so.

I like Lakeem Jackson and like Ramon Galloway. I think they are good players that were not stars but could fit in with the right situation. I really like the upside of Damontre Harris, I am still on the Brian Richardson band wagon, I think R.J. Slawson has a chance to be a solid player for the Gamecocks.

There is no doubt Stephen Spinella and Clifton Geathers were reaches. I don't mind the Johndre Jefferson signing because he fit a specific role on the team. He was a two year kid that they got for back up, not to be a star or contribute significant minutes but they landed him to be a back up to Mike Holmes and Sam Muldrow. You consider that when recruited he would have been playing behind those guys it makes plenty of sense.

Anthony Gill is another very solid player and Damien Leonard has a chance to do some big things at South Carolina. In previous years I would have never seen the Gamecocks land Damontre Harris, Anthony Gill or Damien Leonard and I don't think think they would have beaten out Anthony Grant for a Brian Richardson.

Recruiting has been stepped up. I know this matters very little, but personally if you had a line up consisting this year of Bruce Ellington, Damien Leonard, Lakeem Jackson, Anthony Gill and Damontre Harris I think it would be a very good line up. (I take Murphy Holloway and Malik Cooke out because he like Devan Downey and Zam Fredrick was a transfer that fell back into the Gamecocks lap) Then off the bench you bring Ramon Galloway, Brian Richardson and R.J. Slawson I think that is a solid eight deep. Is it conference championship good? No, but it would be a very solid line up and you could get some quality minutes out of your nine man which would be Eric Smith.

Can you imagine what the Gamecocks would have been like if Downey and Fredrick do not fall back into Odom's lap in the final years?

No because they had to go out and get him away from Virginia Tech and Oklahoma State. I was told for most of the summer that Oklahoma State was in good shape and that South Carolina had to continue to make up some ground for him as it was.

Leonard was a real battle for them and the fact that he was not even considering them still makes it somewhat amazing. Had of South Carolina been a school he was considering and then Purnell left and they landed him I would agree, but he showed them no interest at all up until Purnell. Oklahoma State and Virginia Tech were there all along the way and in some ways it would be considered a blown recruitment on their part not to be in better position to take advantage of Purnells depature.

Somebody told me that one of the other sites has a story about a new coach possibility today. Any word?

Also is there any chance Horn could be bringing in some preferred walk ons? I see other programs including UNC are doing that now.

1) when does the juco pg guard report?

2) what have you heard about current players in weight room?

3) when do gill and Leonard show up?

4) heard anything about the progress of holloway's appeal to NCAA for immediate playing time?

5). Is Ellington participating in basketball meetings, practice sessions? Is he meeting with teammates in unofficial workouts, etc?

6). Do you feel the former sc state coach is the likely hire?

7). Have you talked with sindarious thornwell and Meeks lately regarding Carolina?

8) still no offers for roper, right?

Marshall is a good coach, in my opinion, and I like him. However, I question whether you can make a fair comparison of him with Horn, or with any other coach, based on their records at different schools. There isn't much objectivity involved in trying to do that.

John Wooden was very successful at UCLA. But, would he have been as successful at Butler, or Auburn, or Syracuse? Only God knows.