South Carolina transfer guard Jermaine Couisnard commits to Oregon
Oregon continues to build up its roster for the upcoming season, and Dana Altman has found another strong piece to add to his group for 2022-23. The Ducks recently hosted South Carolina transfer guard Jermaine Couisnard for a visit, and Thursday afternoon he pulled the trigger on his decision to transfer from the SEC and call Eugene his new home.
Couisnard picked Oregon over Ohio State and Maryland in the end but he also had interest from several other programs as well. He visited both Ohio State and Maryland before coming to a decision to play for the Ducks.
The 6-foot-4 senior from East Chicago, Indiana put together a strong season for the Gamecocks as he was the team’s leading scorer after averaging 12 points in 26 games. He also contributed with 2.5 rebounds plus a team high 3.2 assists per game during the 2021-22 season.
Defensively, the new Ducks guard averaged 1.1 steals last season.
Couisnard scored at least 15 points in eight different games, and he played his best basketball at the end of the season. The final stretch of the year was highlighted by a 33-point performance against LSU in which he hit five 3-pointers.
He averaged 19.3 points over the final six games of the season for South Carolina. He scored at least 17 points in four of those games and at least 22 points in three of them.
Altman has become successful at finding pieces to bring together from different levels each offseason, and so far this year is no different. Couisnard is just the latest transfer player to be added to the team with the Ducks previously bringing in Colorado guard Keeshawn Barthelemy to help bolster the perimeter group earlier in the offseason.
Couisnard took his time with the process of finding his next home after entering the NCAA Transfer Portal in March. He will join a team that has gone through some changes this offseason, as most high major programs tend to do, but Altman has been able to add to his roster despite losing several pieces since the end of the season.
In addition to adding Couisnard and Barthelemy via the transfer portal, Oregon added five-star big man Kel’el Ware and four-star guard Dior Johnson as incoming freshmen in addition to junior college transfers Tyrone Williams and Brennan Rigsby.
Guard De’Vion Harmon (Texas Tech) and center Franck Kepnang (Washington) are a couple of the notable offseason losses for the Ducks while Will Richardson and Quincy Guerrier are going through the NBA draft process this spring.
Couisnard, who still has two seasons of eligibility left, will have the opportunity to rejoin one of his previous coaches in Eugene. The Ducks recently hired Chuck Martin last month after he spent five seasons with the Gamecocks giving Couisnard a connection to the program.
