Frank Martin and South Carolina will start the season without one of his top players after the men’s basketball coach announced that Keyshawn Bryant will be suspended for 5 games.

Martin told reporters Monday morning that Bryant violated athletics department policy.

Bryant was a preseason All-SEC selection by the league coaches after the athletic 6-foot-6 forward was a consistent bright spot on a 6-15 USC team that struggled last season. He was primarily the sixth man, but Bryant averaged 27 minutes in his 18 games and is the team’s top returning scorer and rebounder at 14.4 points and 5.4 rebounds per game.

Bryant made 8 starts, and appeared in 18 games, and in SEC play, he averaged 15.8 points and 5.9 rebounds in 28.1 minutes per game. Bryant posted 15 double-figure scoring games and led or shared the team lead in scoring 7 times, and in blocks 9 times.

The Gamecocks open their season on Tuesday against USC-Upstate.

H/T David Cloninger.