South Carolina-Upstate went 10-20 overall and 5-11 in the Big South, and lost its coach after the season ended.
Coach Dave Dickerson left being the Spartans head coach to become an assistant coach at Ohio State under new coach Jake Diebler. South Carolina-Upstate tried former Drake assistant coach Marty Richter to take over. Richter’s lone head coaching experience came at Florida SouthWestern State College from 2016-18. He left the juco ranks to join Drake’s staff in 2018.
Just two players remain from last year’s team — sophomore point guard C.J. Rich and redshirt junior wing Andrew McConnell. Rich played in six games last year and McConnell last made two appearances at James Madison in 2021-22.
South Carolina-Upstate will play at NC State at 7 p.m. Monday at Lenovo Center in Raleigh, with the game on ESPN-plus.
Overview
South Carolina-Upstate will go through a year of change this season.
The aforementioned McConnell and Rich, were joined in the starting lineup by freshman power forward Nic Book of New Zealand, junior wing Isaiah Skinner and junior center Daniel Helterfhoff of Germany against North Greenville on Oct. 29, which the Spartans won 99-62.
However, redshirt freshman wing Chico Johnson, a Drake transfer, redshirt sophomore guard Karmani Gregory from the junior college ranks and freshman wing Mister Dean, will be heavily in the mix.
South Carolina-Upstate will play at NC State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Iowa and South Carolina among high-major programs in non-conference action.
Rankings
South Carolina-Upstate finished No. 303 in the NET rankings last year, and NC State was No. 63.
ESPN’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) has the Spartans ranked No. No. 315 overall, and the Wolfpack are No. 33.
KenPom.com has South Carolina-Upstate at No. 349, and NCSU checks in at No. 53.
Shooting
South Carolina-Upstate shot 49.3 percent from the field (36-of-73), 34.4 percent on three-pointers (11 of 32) and 16 of 18 at the free-throw line for 88.9 percent against North Greenville in the exhibition game. Gregory went 4 of 6 on three-pointers, and Skinner went 3 off 9 from beyond the arc.
Gregory shot 35.9 percent on three-pointers at Florida SouthWestern College in the junior college ranks last year. Skinner made 34.8 percent on three-pointers at Mt. San Jacinto Junior College.
Rebounding
The Spartans out-rebounded North Greenville 47-39, and both teams grabbed 16 offensive rebounds.
Dean led the way with nine boards, and Jones chipped in six. Dean averaged 17.0 points and 5.5 rebounds per game at Sunrise Christian Academy in Bel Aire, Kan., last year. The 6-10, 240-pound Helterhoff averaged 5.8 rebounds per game at Our Lady of the Lake junior college last year.
Defense
North Greenville shot 33.8 percent from the field and an abysmal 2 of 19 on three-pointers against South Carolina-Upstate.
South Carolina-Upstate had five blocks and five steals against North Greenville, with the 6-6 Skinner get two of the blocks.
Depth
The Spartans played 12 players against North Greenville, with 10 of them logging at least 15 minutes of action. The bench out-performed the starters with Gregory scoring 24, Dean adding 21 and nine boards, and Johnson chipping in 10 points.
Star Watch
The 6-foot-1, 170-pound Karmani Gregory showed at least for one game, he can fill it up.
Gregory went 8 of 11 from the field and 4 of 6 on three-pointers en route to 24 points in just 23 minutes of action in the 99-62 win over North Greenville.
Gregory is originally from Bradenton (Fla.) Southeast High, where he averaged 19.9 points and 3.2 assists per game his senior year. He attended Florida SouthWestern College for two years, which is the junior college that Coach Richter had worked at in 2016-18.
Gregory redshirted his freshman year, and then averaged 9.3 points in 23.3 minutes of action last year. he shot 44.3 percent from the field and 35.9 percent on three-pointers. He had a season-high 23 against Indiana River State College on March 2, 2024.
Gregory reached double figures in nine games, and topped 20 points twice.
Likely starters
NC State
PG — 12 Michael O’Connell (6-2, 195, Sr., 5.7 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 3.2 apg)
SG — 8 Jayden Taylor (6-4, 195, Sr., 11.2 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.3 apg, 1.1 spg)
G — 10 Marcus Hill (6-4, 185, Sr., 20.5 ppg, 5.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 1.0 spg at Bowling Green)
F — 3 Dontrez Styles (6-6, 210, Sr., 12.8 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 0.8 apg at Georgetown)
C — 1 Brandon Huntley-Hatfield (6-10, 240, Sr., 12.9 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 1.0 apg at Louisville)
South Carolina-Upstate
PG — 21 C.J. Rich (5-10, 155, Soph.)
SG — 0 Andrew McConnell (6-2, 170, R-Jr.)
SF — 2 Isaiah Skinner (6-6, 200, R-Jr.)
PF — 8 Nic Book (6-8, 205, Fr.)
C — 22 Daniel Helterhoff (6-10, 240, Jr.)
Numbers Of Note
4 NCAA Tournament berths coach Marty Richter has been a part of as an assistant coach — three at Drake (2020-21, 2022-24) and a Sweet 16 berth at Florida Gulf Coast in 2012-13.
6 Consecutive years where South Carolina-Upstate had a player become their leading scorer for the first time. Trae Broadnax (Rice), Jordan Gainey (Tennessed), Bryson Mozone (Georgetown), Tommy Bruner (Jacksonville), Everette Hammond (UMass-Lowell) all transferred and Malik Moore graduated after 2018-19. Deion Holmes led the Spartans in scoring in 2015-16, and then again in 2017-18.
8 Road trips out of 15 non-conference games this year, with trips to NC State, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, East Tennessee State, Iowa, Coastal Carolina, Western Carolina and South Carolina. Three of the seven home games are against non-Division I opponents.
Game Within The Game: South Carolina-Upstate's Daniel Helterhoff vs. NC State's Brandon Huntley-Hatfield
South Carolina-Upstate has three players who are listed at 6-8 or taller, and two of them are freshmen.
Junior center Daniel Helterhoff is the lone true center from a size standpoint at 6-10 and 240 pounds. The native of Cologne, Germany, went to Our Lady of the Lake Junior College in Texas, and averaged 10.1 points and 5.8 rebounds in 24.1 minutes per game last year. He shot 48.4 percent from the field and 79.5 percent at the free-throw line, but only made four three-pointers.
Helterhoff had a season-high 21 points against Southwest J.C. in New Mexico on Feb. 10, 2024, and had 15 double-figure games in points his sophomore year.
NC State will want to establish senior center Brandon Huntley-Hatfield, who averaged 12.9 points and 8.4 rebounds per game for Louisville last year. The 6-10, 240-pound had a career-high 29 points against Florida State on Feb. 3, 2024.
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