6-8 Hayden Assemian of Powdersville is projected to be one of the state’s top prospects in the 2025 basketball recruiting class and may also gain some notoriety nationally as well. USC and Wake Forest were his two early Power Five offers and Tuesday he announced a commitment to the Gamecocks, a pledge he actually made Friday to coach Lamont Paris.
Assemian visited USC September 9th and returned this past Saturday. He said that visit was important because he got the chance to spend more time with Paris and the staff.
“Going up there again to go one on one with Coach Paris and the coaching staff, and how he coaches,” Assemian said of what he took away from the visit. “A lot of coaches just talk and have a bunch of words that sound good, but when they actually show you how they do it, it’s different. Also, being an in-state school helped a lot. Knowing that I grew up watching them was a really big thing.”
Assemian is considered a power forward in recruiting circles, but he said Paris doesn’t want him to be tied down to one spot.
“Really like a positionless player,” Assemian said. “Be versatile. Play on the perimeter more and also everywhere else and bring a lot of energy and aggressiveness to the team.”
Assemian also had offers from Western Carolina, Appalachian State, Hampton and George Mason. He could have dragged out his recruiting and landed more offers, perhaps getting one from Clemson, who had also been showing interest. But he found what he was looking for at USC, and he gets to stay home to play his college ball.
“It feels great just knowing that I will have more of a support base around the state,” he said.
Assemian played last season at Greenville Legacy Early College before transferring back to Powdersville. As a freshman at Powdersville, he averaged 15 points and 11 rebounds per game.
