Former Lexington basketball star Cam Scott is getting his first taste of college ball.

Scott is now participating in summer workouts with the South Carolina men’s basketball team, and head coach Lamont Paris has given some insight into how the rising freshman is coming along.

“He is really locked in on listening, learning, asking questions, communicating,” Paris said during a July 1 media availability. “He wants to be really good.”

Scott, South Carolina’s two-time Gatorade Player of the Year, became the second-highest-rated recruit to commit to USC in team history, according to 247sports. He was originally committed to Texas but flipped his decision to South Carolina, citing a family decision.

“Some things changed, some things happened inner circle-wise,” Scott said back in April when he announced his USC commitment.

Paris said Scott’s decision was welcomed with open arms.

“We live in a time where the second plan ends up being the main plan,” Paris said. “I don’t think for a second that there’s anybody questioning how it went down or why he’s here. I think it was with open arms that every person in our program has accepted him, and because of that, he’s flourished this summer.”

The team quickly embraced Scott. Many of the other players on the roster are also from South Carolina, which Paris said gives them an automatic connection.

“We got a lot of older guys. We also have some in-state guys, and so I think that’s helped him,” Paris said. “When a young guy comes into a situation like this, there can be some question marks on how aggressive to be, not to step on anyone’s toes. Our older group has done a really good job of just encouraging him to be who he is as a player and to be who he is as a person.”

As a player, Scott possesses a variety of skills. At Lexington, he was a three-level scorer with strong court vision, who could easily get the ball to open teammates.

Paris highlighted some of Scott’s attributes that set him up for success and why he can continue improving.

“He can shoot the basketball, he’s athletic, he’s long, he’s an SEC player in every which way physically that you would imagine,” Paris said. “He loves basketball. He’s got a real thirst for basketball knowledge, and just trying to get better at the game.”

Those abilities made Scott Lexington’s all-time leading scorer, a state champion and the No. 1 recruit in the state from the class of 2024. Paris said it is his responsibility to help Scott continue developing to reach his maximum potential.

“That’ll be part of our goal is to help a young guy like that who’s shown supreme talent, try to come as close to his ceiling as he can,” Paris said. “There’s no way he can get to a ceiling in one year. His ceiling would be low if that was the case. But our job is to help him get as close to a ceiling as he can between now and the time that the season starts, and then throughout the season, continue to grow.”

Paris added the competition Scott will face this season will be unlike any he has seen before. It will take adjustments, and he might experience some growing pains along the way.

“I think one of the biggest things when guys are making a transition from high school to college, it’s the speed of the game,” Paris said. “The length and athleticism in this conference that he’s going to play against will be different than what he faced at Lexington. The pace and the speed of the game are so drastically different than high school.”

Scott will have to continue working and prove he can make the necessary adjustments if he wants to have a significant role at South Carolina. Paris said the best way to do that is to follow the advice of his coaches.

“The best way to achieve at the highest level is that he has to learn some things,” Paris said. “We can help him learn some things.”

Paris said he has been impressed with Scott’s ability to take those lessons and quickly adapt his game.

“He really takes what you teach and puts it into his play pretty quickly. That’s a very difficult thing for young people to do,” Paris said. “To hear it, process it and then allow that information to alter your actions and behaviors. Very difficult, but he’s shown signs of being able to do that.”

When Scott does step on the court, it will be because he earned it. Paris teased a possible role he could fill, but it all comes down to how practice plays out before the season.

“I joked around about this in the recruiting process with Cam and his family, that he thinks the game like a point guard,” Paris said. “We’ll see what that looks like when some older SEC guys are trying to get up underneath him and make dribbling full-court look really difficult. But he thinks the game that way. … It’ll be fun to try to figure that out. That’s part of what this whole process is in the summertime, just seeing who emerges in what role and what that looks like.”