South Carolina Basketball: Sindarius Thornwell Picks the Gamecocks

Sindarius Thornwell, a 6'5" shooting guard from Oak Hill Academy, committed to South Carolina Monday night according to Dan McDonald of GaVarsity.com.

Thornwell had recently trimmed his list to South Carolina and N.C. State. He was planning on taking an official visit to N.C. State in two weeks.

“It is home,” Thornwell told William Gunter of TheBigSpur.com. “I have never been a recruit with them, I have always felt like a priority. I always felt comfortable and good with them which is what matters the most.”

The 5-star recruit is originally from Lancaster, South Carolina but recently decided to transfer to play under championship coach Steve Smith at Oak Hill Academy in Virginia.

Thornwell averaged 26.9 points, 8.6 rebounds and five assists per game last year as a junior at Lancaster.

The new Gamecock commit is ranked the fourth-best shooting guard by Scout.com and the 34th-best player in the 2013 class by 247Sports.Com. He had offers from more than a dozen Division-I schools including Ohio State, Virginia Tech, Miami, Georgia, Clemson and Florida State.

ESPN says of Thornwell:

"

"A point forward prospect that has great upside. He has spectacular court vision combined with a high level of athleticism. He is shifty with the ball inside the arc splitting defenders and finishing with either hand at the rim or feeding the open man."

"

USC head coach Frank Martin picked up a commitment from 3-star power forward Desmond Ringer last week. Coach Martin has hit the recruiting trail hard since becoming the coach earlier this year.

South Carolina also picked up a commitment from talented 2014 point guard Marcus Stroman over the summer.

With SEC teams like Kentucky and Florida picking up strong recruiting classes consistently, South Carlina must do the same if they want to compete. So far Coach Martin has proven to be up for the task.