South Carolina basketball’s Myles Stute to miss time with shoulder injury

Lamont Paris’ Gamecocks will have to adjust their starting lineup without veteran Myles Stute.

South Carolina announced Thursday afternoon that junior Myles Stute will miss roughly two to three weeks with a left shoulder strained he sustained against Georgia on Jan. 16.

Stute, during a box-out attempt, twisted his left arm in an awkward angle with 10:57 left to play in the second half and appeared to favor his shoulder area afterward. He went to the locker room while the foul was reviewed as a Flagrant 1, hook and hold, and didn’t return.

“He’s such a touch kid, that if he goes down and stays down like that, my heart always skips a beat,” Paris said on the Carolina Calls on Thursday. “When he goes down like that, it’s not a walk it off type situation.”

Paris said following the 74-69 loss to the Bulldogs that Stute was getting an MRI on Wednesday, but didn’t know what the problem was or its severity at that time. He did mention Stute being in immense pain after the initial injury.

Stute, a transfer from Vanderbilt, has been a starting forward for USC since the beginning of the season and averages 9.9 points per game in 19 minutes of action. He leads the team from the 3-point line, shooting 38.8% this season.

During the two or three weeks the Gamecocks will be without their starting forward, USC will host Kentucky and Missouri and travel to Georgia and Tennessee.

Paris said he expects Zach Davis to step into the starting position, adding that Davis was practicing Thursday afternoon as a starter. Paris said he expects to lean into the bench more often as well, mentioning Eli Sparkman and Morris Ugusuk as players that could see an increased workload during Stute’s absence.

“Ultimately, it will be a total group thing,” Paris said. “There’ll be a lot of guys that will play more than what they normally do some kind of to play different positions a little bit than what they normally would, because Miles is versatile.

“But it also may have us going deeper into our bench or might be extended minutes for a guy like Morris,” Paris continued. “You know, honestly, I wouldn’t be shocked if you end up seeing a guy put them on alert already. Eli Sparkman even, because I continue to trust what he does at practice. And if I say do X, Y, and Z, he’ll do X, Y, and Z. He’ll try his hardest to do X, Y and Z.”

Next four games

• Saturday at Arkansas, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)

• Jan. 23 vs. Kentucky, 7 p.m. (SEC Network)

• Jan. 27 vs. Missouri, 1 p.m. (SEC Network)

• Jan. 30 vs. Tennessee, 6:30 p.m. (SEC Network)