Gray, Muldrow and Holmes ready to make impact with Gamecocks

South Carolina doesn’t play a basketball game until its exhibition Monday against Guilford.

Freshman forward Mike Holmes, though, has already made quite an impression — at least on one of his teammates.

Holmes, one of three Pee Dee natives who will try to help turn the Gamecocks’ fortunes this season, has not been a typical freshman in some ways.

No one ever accused Holmes of being shy on the basketball court when he starred at Lee Central High in Bishopville, and he evidently hasn’t changed since arriving in Columbia this summer.

“He’s got an active voice,” senior swingman Dwayne Day said. “I didn’t think he’d come out speaking, but when he gets angry, he’s a beast. I hope he stays angry all the time.”

Holmes joins forces with fellow Pee Dee natives Sam Muldrow of Wilson and former Kingstree High School star Chad Gray. Muldrow, a 6-foot-9 forward, is also a freshman.

Gray, a sophomore, considers his season already off to a good start, despite the fact the Gamecocks have yet to play.

Why? Well, for Gray, good is a relative term.

He’s in shape, he’s healthy and he’s not fighting just to get into school like he was this time last year.

“What a bad predicament that was,” said Gray, who was finally admitted into

USC for the 2007 spring semester and joined the team last December. “I came in late, I had to learn all the plays, I was trying to get in shape, and as soon as I got in shape, I got hurt. It was pretty tough.”

Gray played in 14 games last season, but was severely limited by a turf toe injury early, finally got it mostly healed, then re-injured it and never got into any kind of rhythm.

But now with his troubles behind him, the 6-foot-7 Gray hopes to do what coach Dave Odom brought him to USC to do in the first place — use his athleticism and speed to help the Gamecocks win basketball games and turn the program around.

“I expect a lot of myself this year,” Gray said. “I want to take advantage of this opportunity, because as I found out, anything can happen at any time.”

So far, Gray said he has been impressed with Muldrow and Holmes, and so has their coach.

“We’re starting to find out that some of our freshmen might be more skilled than we thought,” Odom said.

Odom has made no secret of the fact that he expects both to contribute this year — and significantly.

Odom said he has taken hold of a philosophy he said he heard from a coach years ago — that if a basketball player isn’t good enough to contribute as a freshman and then start as a sophomore, he’s probably not going to be much help as an upperclassman.

Muldrow and Holmes, Odom said, are among three freshmen — Austin Steed is the other — who fall into that category.

“They are athletically talented enough to play at a high level in the SEC and win,” Odom said. “We have freshmen who are not afraid at this point. They’re not afraid to win, they’re not afraid to lose. They will lay it out there for you every single day. They come in with the passion to succeed. I expect each one to play regularly and possibly even start.”

That might sound like a tall order for such young players, but they’re not backing down.

“I am young, but I want to be a leader,” Holmes said. “I want to help others out that don’t always know the play. I know I still need help, too, and that’s OK, but I want to help my teammates, as well.”

Holmes also will be asked to provide help in an area where the Gamecocks desperately needed it last season — rebounding.

“He can do that, because he brings a lot of toughness to our team,” Gray said.

Said Odom, “He has a real presence defensively, one that we haven’t had in the post in two or three years. I think he can be a really good defensive player.”

Muldrow’s position hasn’t changed since he arrived on campus in the summer — make the most of his time on the floor, whether it’s as a starter or coming off the bench.

One of Muldrow’s specialties at Wilson was blocking shots, and he’s done much of the same in practices, according to his teammates. The Gamecocks lost the school’s all-time leading shot-blocker in Brandon Wallace, who recently earned a roster spot with the Boston Celtics.

“I expect a lot from me and from Mike Holmes,” Muldrow said. “We’re in a big position on this team. We’ve got some big shoes to fill.”

Muldrow, Holmes and Gray have at least one voice of experience — not to mention a geographical kindred spirit — in their corner.

“I think all of them will make a great impact,” said Carlos Powell, a former star at both South Carolina and Wilson. Powell is also Muldrow’s cousin and has spent much time working out with USC’s basketball team the past few months.

“They are three tough guys,” Powell said. “You always need guys that will do the dirty work — diving on the floor for loose balls, blocking shots, making an extra pass — and they’ll do that.”