How they were built: Baylor vs. South Carolina

For the fourth time in his career, Scott Drew has helped lead the Baylor Bears into the Sweet 16. They will take on No. 7 seed South Carolina, one of the darlings of the tournament after their upset of Duke. Here is how both teams were built.

When it comes to player development and utilizing the redshirt, Drew and his staff have been as effective as anybody in the country. Look no further than their star big man Johnathan Motley. The Texas was a four-star recruit out of high school but also quite raw. He redshirted for a year and has turned into a double-double machine.

The development process is evident in the way a guy like Motley’s backup T.J. Maston has come along. A three-star prospect who ranked outside of the Rivals150 in high school, Maston has developed into a dangerous weapon off the bench.

Two of the Bears’ most important pieces came courtesy of Drew and his staff working the transfer market. Point guard Manu Lecomte is a native of Belgium who began his career at Miami, while junior big man Jo Lual-Acuil hails from Australia and attended junior college in Kansas before arriving in Waco.

Sorting through transfers to land those who not only fit your program but can help you win isn’t easy. Without landing these two guys it would be hard to envision the Bears in this position.

In order to have a great team, you need that one guy who doesn’t care much about his own stats but provides leadership and brings it all together. In senior wing Ishmail Wainright, Baylor has that guy. A top 60 prospect in high school, Wainright arrived at Baylor expecting to be a bigger part of the offense. The way things happened he was needed more for defense, leadership and doing the little things that aren’t measured. He’s Baylor’s heart and soul.

Everything begins and ends with Sindarius Thornwell, the SEC Player of the Year and one of the more underrated players. Frank Martin got it right when he took ahold of the job at South Carolina, making Thornwell his top priority. Beating out NC State for his signature, Thornwell revealed his dreams for the SEC program.

“I want to help South Carolina win 20 games and get to the NCAA tournament while I'm there,” the four-star told GamecockCentral in the fall of 2012.

Five years later, Thornwell looks like a prophet.

Alongside the USC standout is PJ Dozier, the top prospect ever signed by Martin. A multi-dimensional guard that is just realizing how good he can be during his sophomore campaign, the four-star recruit selected the hometown program over Georgetown, Louisville, North Carolina and Michigan, following in the footsteps of his father, who once donned the Gamecocks jersey.

Duane Notice is one of the cornerstones behind South Carolina’s rise since 2013. Chris Silva chose the Gamecocks over Seton Hall and Rhode Island and brought fine defensive versatility and finishing skills to Columbia. Others such as Maik Kotsar, a tremendous find last spring, along with tough-nosed role pieces in Hassani Gravett and local product, Justin McKie, round out the rotation.

Another unsung prospect that has transformed into a threat on both sides of the ball is Rakym Felder. He picked South Carolina over ETSU and Quinnipiac last spring. Now, the Bronx native has entered the fray as the Gamecocks’ X-factor, a perimeter weapon that put pressure on Duke’s guards last week, scoring 15 points.