Wilder back on scholarship

This should be no surprise, considering no players were added late, but guard Robert Wilder will be back on scholarship this season.

South Carolina men’s basketball coach Darrin Horn confirmed it Wednesday morning.

Wilder and fellow walk-on Branden Conrad were given scholarships before last season, in a move that was partly to reward their hard work, and partly to help the team’s APR and grade point average. (Walk-ons don’t count towards the APR.)

Conrad has graduated, but Wilder still has eligibility. Horn let him know that he would return to walk-on status if his scholarship was needed, but it is not. Wilder gets a free ride again, and the Gamecocks still have a scholarship to spare (the NCAA limit is 13).

Here’s the scholarship breakdown for 2009-10:

Seniors (5): Devan Downey, Dominique Archie, Evka Baniulis, Brandis Raley-Ross, Robert Wilder.

Juniors (4): Mike Holmes, Sam Muldrow, Austin Steed, Johndre Jefferson.

Freshmen (3): Lakeem Jackson, Ramon Galloway, Stephen Spinella.

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4 Comments to “Wilder back on scholarship”

KnoxCock 12 August 2009 at 11:57 am #

Looks like a great opportunity for us to bring in a JUCO player or two after next year to round out the distribution of scholarships, in addition to incoming freshmen
Freehawk 12 August 2009 at 3:18 pm #

Thanks Seth, I always wondered if walkons’ GPRs contributed to the team average.

Question, what about the “practice player” fellow from WV? Is he still with the team in that capacity?
Philip 14 August 2009 at 3:12 am #

If walk-ons don’t count towards APR, and if Wilder is added b/c of (in part) his GPA, why not use that last schollie for some 4.0 student who can take a semester off and travel with the team?
tatersluvfriedchikin 15 August 2009 at 12:22 am #

How can a student “take a semester off” to play basketball? That privilege is only afforded FB palyers at USC.