South Carolina’s leading scorer, transfer guard Jermaine Couisnard, announced his decision to join Oregon’s program early Thursday afternoon.

Couisnard chose the Ducks over Gonzaga, Houston, BYU and Ohio State among others.

Couisnard, a physical 6-foot-4 scorer, plays both the shooting guard and wing positions. Early returns from the Oregon staff point to him playing short stretches at the point guard position as well. He’s a redshirt senior with two years of eligibility remaining, who averaged 12 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.2 assists per game while shooting 39.6% from the field and 32.3% from the 3-point range.

Couisnard averaged 19.3 points per game over his final six games with South Carolina, including a career-high 33-point outburst against LSU.

After the Gamecocks parted ways with longtime head coach Frank Martin at the end of last season, Couisnard elected to finish out his collegiate career elsewhere.

“I didn’t really know what I was doing,” Couisnard told the Daily Emerald. “I didn’t know if I wanted to go back to school… I was kind of waiting to see what was going on, and then they ended up firing Frank [Martin].”

South Carolina’s decisive move crystalized his decision to enter the transfer portal. Then, when Oregon hired Martin’s assistant coach Chuck Martin (South Carolina, 2017-2022) to help bolster Dana Altman’s staff in Eugene, Oregon became a frontrunner.

“They just showed me that they wanted me,” Couisnard said. “They said I was going to play a lot of minutes in their system and that it’s the right situation for me and that I can be myself. They [highlighted] my ability to score and be versatile and then just improving on my numbers, my efficiency.”

Oregon senior guard Will Richardson has yet to make a decision on whether he’ll return to UO for one final season. If he does, however, the Ducks may again run a three-guard lineup in 2022-23. Couisnard’s physicality allows him to guard down the lineup defensively, and his scoring ability would complement the playstyles of Richardson and fellow transfer Keeshawn Barthelemy.

“I played with a lot of different players at South Carolina, like AJ Lawson,” he said. “We all know what we have to do. We have to come in and win. I feel like there’s no personal goals between us. Just whatever we can do to get the team to win.”

In what’s become a normality since Altman came to Eugene, the Ducks have had a chaotic offseason. But with the addition of Couisnard, and one final roster spot set aside for Richardson’s impending decision, the next iteration of this Oregon roster looks to be a near finished product.