Stroman's Still a Winner

Freshman South Carolina point guard Marcus Stroman was once the leader of a special AAU team (Southern Stampede) that was based in Augusta and coached by good friends Mike Stokes and Matt Scott. He also led Keenan High School, coached by Augusta native Zach Norris, to two South Carolina High School League state championships and was featured on the blog many times (see below).

As Len Elmore noted in a recent ESPN broadcast of South Carolina's home game versus Baylor, Gamecock head coach Frank Martin calls Stroman a "consummate point guard" with a great feel for the game.  In a Facebook conversation, I told Stokes and Laney coach Buck Harris that Marcus reminds me of longtime friend and former AAU teammate Ricky Moore.  Both Moore and Stroman make teammates better.  Players like these have a knack for doing the things that put their teams in position to win, which is why I am not at all surprised to see that Marcus is the first player from that old Southern Stampede group to make a big impact on a big stage this early in his freshman season.

Playing heavy minutes in a narrow home loss to Baylor, Stroman did a little bit of everything, including penetrating the Bears' zone defense for an early score in the paint, burying a three from deep, and generating 6 fast break points (scoring two on a putback and assisting for another two on teammate Tyrone Johnson's three point play) for his team following three Stroman steals.

Besides sophomore teammate and Gamecock leading returning scorer Sindarius Thornwell, Stroman probably had the biggest impact on this game of any South Carolina player.  Not bad for a 6'2" point guard who is not a stand out athlete and who has never been known as a shooter or scorer.  However, Marcus does stand out as a winner, whether playing alongside Ahmed Hill (VA Tech) and Jakeenan Gant (Missouri) or playing as a freshman in South Carolina's ESPN broadcast versus Baylor.

***Past posts about Marcus and his former Southern Stampede AAU team***

Nov 12, 2012

Marcus Stroman: True Point Guard, True Leader

Dec 9, 2012
Ahmed Hill Backs Up Statement

July 19, 2012
Stampede Opens Peach Jam with Win