It wasn’t too long ago that South Carolina’s Mike Boynton found himself answering calls from coaches who wanted to see if he would be interested in coming to their school.

“They knew I was considering all my options [after a coaching change at SC],” said Boynton, who starred at Bishop Loughlin and is headed to his first NCAA tournament appearance when the 10th-seeded Gamecocks face seventh-seeded Memphis Friday in Kansas City. “They had recruited me before and thought there was a chance they could get me.”

Boynton won’t say who the coaches were who were violating NCAA rules, but he’s glad he didn’t follow any of their wishes.

“There were a couple of weeks there when I was considering leaving because I thought things weren’t going to work out for me here,” Boynton said. “I was serious about it.”

The problem stemmed from the departure of former South Carolina head coach Eddie Fogler, who had recruited Boynton out of Brooklyn. He hadn’t found a role with new coach Dave Odom, even being benched for a game.

“It was hard,” said the 6-2 Boynton, who may play professionally in Europe next season. “Coach Odom didn’t know me and Coach Fogler was a big part of why I chose South Carolina. That was when I thought that maybe I didn’t make the right decision.”

Finally, however, Boynton opted to stay. But even he is shocked by how well he has finished his college career.

“If you had told me a year ago today where we’d be, I’d have laughed in your face,” said Boynton, whose team didn’t play in the postseason at all last year and lost four seniors from that squad. “But things started to change over the summer and that’s when I thought it might turn around.”

It has and Boynton is a major reason why. He has averaged 10.2 ppg, scoring a season-high 32 points in a win over Arkansas in the SEC tournament.

He’s looking to have similar success this week so that the team advances to play in the Meadowlands in the regionals. If the Gamecocks do get there, it will be a rare trip back to the area for Boynton.