Freshmen make impact early in Gamecock careers
The South Carolina basketball program garnered some increased recognition over the past week with the announcement that the most recent SEC Freshman of the Week award on both the men’s and women’s side went to Gamecocks.
For coach Frank Martin’s men’s basketball team, guard Sindarius Thornwell earned the honor for his performances against LSU and No. 7 Florida in the team’s first two SEC contests. The Lancaster, S.C. native averaged 17.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 1.5 assists across both contests. Thornwell’s 11.7 points-per-game for the season is good for second-best on the team and he has tallied the third-most assists of any Gamecock.
While the award was the first recognition Thornwell has received from the conference, his counterpart on coach Dawn Staley’s women’s team, center Alaina Coates, recently earned her third Freshman of the Week nod.
Coates scored in double digits in both of South Carolina’s contests over the past week, putting up 10 points and a program-record for freshman 17 rebounds in Thursday’s top-10 clash with Kentucky and 14 points against Auburn on Sunday.
Coates has made her impact felt immediately in her first year of collegiate basketball, ranking sixth in the conference in rebounding, third in blocked shots and 22nd in scoring.
Both freshmen have played in every game of the season so far for their respective teams in their inaugural season’s as Gamecocks.