USC Gets No Respect

After finishing last year in a tie for the Eastern Division SEC regular season title, the Gamecocks find themselves projected fourth in the East in the upcoming season after improving the talent and returning four starters and all players receiving significant burn during the previous season.  Coach Darin Horn is now being forced to prove that the new exciting up tempo USC Gamecocks were not a fluke and are positioned to commence a season challenging for the conference title and advancing to the NCAA tournament.  The NCAA post season event is not a foriegn location for the second year coach who has parlayed his early success in the NCAA's to the current SEC head coaching position.  With potential NBA players in the upper classman status like Devan Downey and Dominique Archie returning the Gamecocks should have been considered at least a number two or three finisher in the division.  Fourth alone is a disrespect to Downey, who will be every teams' nightmare this year, commands the respect of more than a mediocre placing in the preseason rankings.  Archie will have a lot to say about it as well as the second leader of a team that is now built on confidence in each other, confidence in the coach and a love for the new fan atmosphere.  John Wall was the marquee topic, along with the movement and dealings of John Calipari, but somewhere in the mix the Gamecocks have been left to the world of nowhere and will have to sneak up on the world again, only this year it will be apparent early that this team has arrived to the level of respectability.