South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris will put a new-look team on the court next season. With three returners from last year, five incoming freshmen, and six transfer portal signees, the Gamecocks will look to bounce back from their abysmal 12-20 (2-16) showing from the 2024-2025 campaign.
If Carolina is to bounce back, the newcomers will have to lead the charge. On Monday, On3’s Jamie Shaw wrote about ten transfers with the biggest storylines attached to them heading into next year. New Gamecock and former Utah Utes guard Mike Sharavjamts made the cut.
According to Shaw, Sharavjamts is key to South Carolina’s pursuit of an offseason resurrection.
Said Shaw, “[Lamont] Paris looks to have gone back to a formula that worked for him in the 2023-24 season. Skill and decision-making at five positions, and a big lead guard beside Meechie Johnson, who was used to self-create offense. Then the guard was Ta’Lon Cooper; this year, Utah transfer Mike Sharavjamts looks to fill that role. Sharavjamts is a 6-foot-8 guard with good floor vision, fluid athleticism, and the ability to knock down a shot from three.
“Steadying the play at the point of attack will be big for South Carolina, getting back toward the 2023-24 season. With a five-man high school recruiting class and a six-man portal class, there will be a lot of new faces on campus in Columbia. Can Sharavjamts be the central piece that brings it all together?”
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While not a one-to-one comparison (Ta’Lon Cooper was a true point guard, Mike Sharavjamts is not), Shaw compared the 2025-2026 backcourt to the 2023-2024 group that helped lead South Carolina to a record-tying 26 wins. Meechie Johnson returns, and he will have a big guard next to him.
Despite the positional gray area, the Mongolian guard shares some similarities to Johnson’s former running mate. Both Sharavjamts and Cooper have positional size (the former is listed at 6-8 or 6-9, depending on where one looks). Both players have above-average vision on offense and compete hard on defense.
Though Cooper was the orchestrator of much of the offense two years ago, Johnson was an important secondary creator. He handled the ball a lot so as to allow Cooper to operate off-ball for spot-up shooting opportunities or post-ups against smaller players. Though the numbers haven’t always shown it, Sharavjamts is capable of knocking down jumpers. He also would be a nightmare to guard in the post for smaller guards.
Johnson, incoming true freshman Eli Ellis, returning guard Cam Scott, and incoming transfer two-guard Kobe Knox likely will play the majority of the minutes on the perimeter alongside Sharavjamts (Myles Stute and Grant Polk are true wings, not typical guards). If the Gamecocks can overcome their lack of traditional point guard with a team approach on the perimeter (easier said than done), one can squint and see the vision of how this year’s team can work.
Again, like in 2023-2024, this year’s team will look to play with four or five theoretical shooters on the court. Several of the team’s bigs will combine some outside touch with strength to bang around inside when needed. The wings will have enough length to be switchable on defense. Sets that generate pick-and-pop or drive-and-kick opportunities will be critical to getting those players open shots. Other than post touches for Collin Murray-Boyles and BJ Mack, that was how the NCAA Tournament team found points, too. Team rebounding and an avoidance of live-ball turnovers will be important.
When things break down, Sharavjamts brings a little something extra on offense, too. He has that make-something-happen skill that South Carolina didn’t have much of this season. He can make tough shots (though it has hurt his efficiency in the past), and he can make impressive passes as an improvisational facilitator. Sharavjamts also shoots really well at the rim thanks to his elite positional length and plus-athleticism. He has not been a great rebounder previously, but Sharavjamts has the capability of chipping in on the glass.
In an SEC that is one of the toughest conferences in the history of the sport, it will be difficult for South Carolina (or any team) to go from last in the league to the top half of the conference. However, if the Gamecocks are going to make a turnaround happen, Sharavjamts will be key. USC fans will need to be sure to watch “Mongolian Mike” closely this season.
Sharavjamts is joined by Johnson (Ohio State), Knox (USF), Christ Essandoko (Providence), Elijah Strong (Boston College), and Nordin Kapic (UC-San Diego) in the transfer class.
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