Gamecocks Headed Back to Bahamas for Foreign Tour in August

COLUMBIA, S.C. – South Carolina will be taking another foreign tour this summer to play a pair of exhibition games at the 2026 Baha Mar Hoops Summer League bdG Sports announced on Wednesday. The Gamecocks last took a preseason foreign trip ahead of the historic 2023-24 season that culminated with the program’s first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017.

“We feel very fortunate and are immensely grateful for the opportunity our administration has given us to finish the summer off with a tour to play games in the Bahamas,” said head coach Lamont Paris. “Roster turnover in men’s basketball has become increasingly prevalent, and I believe the opportunity to have 10 full practices leading into playing in actual games against good competition goes a long way in accelerating the process of a group of new faces transitioning into a true ‘team.’ Baha Mar is an excellent venue. This event will undoubtedly provide a good basketball experience for our players, but most importantly, it will provide valuable time with one another during travel, down time, meals and extracurricular activities. We couldn’t be more excited!”

In the Gamecocks’ 2023 foreign tour to the Bahamas, the team won a pair of games in Imperial Ballroom at Atlantis with a 106-67 win over Club Obras (Argentina) and an 86-60 victory over Žalgiris-2 (Lithuania).

Paris’ revamped roster this season will feature an experienced six-man transfer class of forward Aleksas Bieliauskas (Wisconsin), guard Shane Blakeney (Drexel), guard Davion Hannah (Alabama), forward Camden Heide (Texas), guard Kory Mincy (George Mason) and forward Jakub Nečas (Duquesne). Carolina recently added international big man Juan Fernández. The skilled, 6-11 forward from Santa Fe, Argentina, brings a wealth of international experience competing at the highest level. Talented consensus four-star guard Marcus Johnson (Cleveland, Ohio) is an incoming freshman who will bolster the backcourt depth on the 2026-27 Gamecock squad as well. He is first cousins with former Gamecock great and All-SEC guard Meechie Johnson.

There will be a trio of new faces on the bench as well for Carolina with the arrival of veteran assistant coaches Bob Donewald Jr. and Steve Smith in the offseason. Former Wisconsin star Sam Dekker was also named assistant coach over the summer after retiring from an 11-year playing career in the NBA and overseas. Paris was an assistant coach for the Badgers when Dekker helped spearhead back-to-back Final Four trips for the program in 2014 and 2015.

The team begins its summer workout period next week.

New NCAA rules allow college teams to take a foreign tour annually after the previous rule allowed such a trip only once every four academic years.

This marks the fifth year of the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League, managed by bdG Sports, an entertainment management firm which annually operates two dozen collegiate men’s and women’s basketball games at Baha Mar each November.

Fans interested in attending the Baha Mar Hoops Summer League can visit this link for upcoming information on tickets, rooms and VIP packages.

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