South Carolina basketball’s Arden Conyers logged the most minutes of his career against Alabama. After recording 16 total minutes played in five appearances prior to the game, Conyers suited up for 19 on Wednesday night.
“He’s (Arden) got a little more versatility in terms of how many positions he can play,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “I thought he did a good job defensively on the ball.”
The redshirt freshman, ranked 232nd nationally in the class of 2023 per On3, did not see action for last season’s NCAA Tournament team. His lone scoring output was a made three against Towson earlier this season.
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However, it was announced on Tuesday that Myles Stute would be sidelined indefinitely following a blood clot diagnosis. Conyers, who is listed at 6-foot-7, 212 pounds, fits the player mold of Stute.
“I think the primary impetus behind it was Myles being out,” Paris said. “I mean, Myles plays 25-plus minutes for us, so you have to account for those somehow.”
Zachary Davis started the first matchup of the season over Stute against North Florida. But after South Carolina’s loss, Stute had started the subsequent thirteen games at the wing. Against Alabama, with the fifth-year senior out, Davis got the starting nod again.
In a game that was lopsided for much of the second half, Davis ended up logging 29 minutes. Conyers didn’t fill up the stat sheet, finishing with two points on 1-6 shooting, one turnover, and two fouls in his 19 minutes.
But defensively, Paris had words of praise for the freshman for his performance.
“I thought he did a good job of guarding the ball, he had a nice, aggressive, rip to the baseline which drew a foul,” Paris said. “There were some bright spots for him … the bulk of it was mostly because of Myles being out and trying to find some of those minutes, divvy those minutes up a bit more.”
Even though Conyers hadn’t seen much game action, he had been active in practices and behind the scenes.
“Defensively and competitively, he’s made some improvements. This game comes down to competing. At the end of the day, it comes down to competing,” Paris said.
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After being part of scout team offenses, Conyers was thrust into the moment against a top-caliber SEC program in Alabama.
Definitely, it was a welcome-to-the-SEC type of moment,” Conyers said. “I put in a lot of work within the past few weeks … defensively, that’s my biggest strong point where I want to focus my game on and I want to improve.”
After the game, Conyers reflected on his opportunity to get minutes against a top team.
“I feel like it was good for me … I learned a lot from this and I’ll grow as a player,” Conyers said. “I send my condolences, but I did have to step up for him (Stute).”
