Thanksgiving at the Horns

The Gamecocks will practice early Thursday morning so players who live close enough can head home for Thanksgiving meal.

Coach Darrin Horn said three or four players were coming to his house. Mitchell Carter, who is from Milwaukee, is among them.

“I don’t know the exact list yet,” Horn said.  “We had better have that finalized by this evening though, because there’s going to be one person preparing the meal who is not going to happen with the head coach – regardless of our record.”

Horn was speaking, of course, of me … or possibly his wife Carla. (Yours truly, who himself is from out of town, is running a 5-mile race in the morning, doing a little work, and then heading over to a colleague who was kind enough to extend an invitation.)

A few more notes and tidbits from Horn’s meeting with the press on Wednesday: 

- Sophomore center Sam Muldrow is still out with those unspecified academic issues.

- Junior guard Brandis Raley-Ross is progressing from his sprained knee, and is off crutches. But there has been no change in his scheduled return, which is sometime next month.

- Center Mitchell Carter didn’t play Tuesday night because of coach’s decision, according to, well, the coach.

- Horn said he wasn’t aware that he was the first coach in about 60 years to start 4-0 in his first year.

“And no, it does not mean anything to me,” Horn said. “College of Charleston means something to me right now.”

With a win Friday, he would tie for the best start for a new coach in South Carolina history.

- That said, Horn realizes it’s a bit early to count this next won in the win column. College of Charleston is 4-1, and this presents the first road game for the Gamecocks. It also doesn’t help that it’s the night that the CofC’s new arena is being dedicated.

“I think it’s gonna be a huge challenge. I think they’re a really good basketball team. I think it’s going to be a hostile environment,” Horn said. “Obviously it’s a big game, not just because of the dedication of the building but also because of the matchup. We expect it to be really tough.”

- What’s more, Horn said the Cougars are the most talented, deep, athletic team they’ve faced so far.

“They’ve got a lot of guys that do a bunch of different things, they’re not just plugged into one spot. Any time a team does that, they’re dangerous,” Horn said. “I was fortunate to win a lot of games with a team like that (at Western Kentucky). They’re difficult matchups.”

- Horn said the team has “some interest” in scheduling more games at in-state schools. They already will visit Wofford next year.

- Horn had praise for guard Robert Wilder, as well as lots of players who he said have shown an expansion of their games so far.

“We’re going to need that to be successful,” Horn said. “Not necessarily Robert being great every night, but guys doing whatever they can within their role, because we’re not talented enough, we’re not deep enough, to get buy with having three or four people that don’t do what they can do for us.”