COLUMBIA - During Tim Carter's interview to become the new South Carolina State men's basketball coach, school President Andrew Hugine indicated he wanted someone who could "walk on water."

A season-opening victory over the University of South Carolina tonight at the Colonial Center would immediately put Carter on higher ground. At Thursday's press luncheon which included representatives from both schools however, Carter acknowledged a preference for a less formidable opponent to make his debut against as he looks to revive a program which has suffered three straight losing seasons.

"Every coach wants to start the season with someone on their schedule that they think they can have success with," he said. "I don't know for us if this is the best game to play the beginning of the season. It may be the best game for them to play. I don't think it's the best game for us to play. When you look around the country, most teams want to play people that they really feel like they can build some confidence with. From our standpoint, we're going to play the game. But I would have liked to play the game later in the year."

At the same time, he said the Bulldogs will try to continue the wave of smaller programs like Gardner-Webb or Grand Valley State who have pulled off improbable wins over the likes of Kentucky and Michigan State in recent days.

"Hopefully, tomorrow night, we're going to put a product on the floor that our fans will be very proud of," Carter said. "That State will enjoy watching."

Bulldog fans got an early glimpse of the new-look Bulldogs in Monday's 85-65 win over Voorhees College. Junior forward Chris Miller-Williams scored 19 points and Jason Flagler and Junior College Player of the Year Jason Johnson added 10 each. More important, SCSU showed more of a commitment to sharing the basketball with 15 assists and defense, forcing 25 turnovers.

Against USC, Carter wants to continue establishing a "foundation of playing hard, unselfish" basketball and try to remain positive as the Bulldogs will play over the next 11 days Old Dominion (Sunday) and the University of North Carolina (Nov. 20) on the road and Jacksonville at home Wednesday.

In 15 previous visits to Columbia, the Bulldogs have come up empty each time against the Gamecocks. Two of the last three meetings have been decided by three points, including last year's 55-52 victory by the Gamecocks. Despite shooting 1-18 from 3-point range, USC once again managed to hold off a late rally by the Bulldogs to remain perfect in the series.

Senior point guard Derrick Davis said this year's Bulldog team has a better "state of mind" and will need to give a full 40-minute effort to pull out the victory.

"I think what's been a thorn in our season is that we haven't had great teamwork," Davis said. "This time we have now is really worried about getting the basketball to the open man whereas past teams we had 1-2 players who got the ball and scored. This time, we can score from all types of angles. So, the teamwork is definitely there this year."

Coming off a 14-16 campaign last season, USC head coach Dave Odom said a deeper roster with eight new players will allow him to play a more uptempo style of basketball.

"One will have to say that we do have more bodies to put into the game," Odom said. "The speed of the game will be faster. It will be quicker. We've got some guys that like to play a high octane pace of game. Defensively, we're able to go pretty much fullcourt for longer periods of time and we've got a nice mixture of old and new."

Among the two highest-profile newcomers are transfer guards Devan Downey and Zambolist "Buck" Frederick.

Downey has quickly established himself as a Gamecock leader, scoring 27 points in the team's 99-63 exhibition win over Guilford College on Monday.

As for Fredrick, the former "Mr. South Carolina Basketball" out of Calhoun County High School had 10 points as he looks to follow in the foots.jpg of his father and former Gamecock great Zam Fredrick.

"Those two had a year of practice in our system," he said. "They understand exactly what we want. They have taken a leadership role along with Dominique Archie...and they're certainly very pleased with that as well as the new style of play. And then when you combine those guys with Dwayne Day, who's certainly off to a good start this year, and we certainly need his leadership because he's the only senior on our basketball team. And we've got four freshman, three of which I think are going to play significant roles. (Forward) Michael Holmes (of Lee Central) had a great night (19 points, 10 rebounds, three blocks, two steals) the other night against Guilford College as did Sam Muldrow (six points), and Austin Steed I think will come along and play well throughout the season."

Despite USC's dominance, Odom still sees the matchup as a "neighborhood rivalry" comparable to a conference game.

"You've got two schools that know so much about each other, albeit the teams don't know a lot about each other right now because basically we've got some new players and in South Carolina State's situation, we've got a new coaching staff. So, there's not a lot known publicly about the two teams right now. When you get in that type of situation, I'm not sure if you can determine anything that happens as an upset. It's pretty much like a conference game when one team beats another in conference, I don't know how much of an upset you can actually say it is because things kind of balance out as it goes. There is a lot of emotion, a lot of healthy emotion, that goes into a rivalry that has been established between the University of South Carolina and South Carolina State University."

This is the second high-profile matchup between the two schools in the past three months. Much like the SCSU football team celebrated its Centennial by playing USC for the first time in September, the Gamecocks are opening their 100th season of basketball against the Bulldogs.

As part of its celebration, USC will honor former players throughout the season. The elder Fredrick will be the guest of honor for the Gamecocks' home game Tuesday against The Citadel.

T&D Senior Sports Writer Thomas Grant Jr. can be reached by e-mail at tgrant@timesanddemocrat.com or by phone at 803-533-5547. Discuss this and other stories on-line at TheTandD.com.

BULLDOGS vs. GAMECOCKS

WHO: South Carolina State at the University of South Carolina

WHERE: The Colonial Center in Columbia

WHEN: 8 p.m. tonight

RADIO: WSSB (90.3 FM) in Orangeburg and WOMG (103.1 FM) and WISW (1320 AM) in Columbia

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