Chris Silva's university profile page.
Chris Silva is an integrated information technology major at South Carolina. During his career he has garnered numerous academic accolades including the following: first-year Academic Honor Roll (spring 2016), Athletic Director Honor Roll (spring 2016), dean’s list (spring 2016) and SEC Academic Honor Roll (winter 2017). His career interests in the field include creating apps.
Silva is an outstanding leader on and off the court for his teammates and others. A native of Gabon in West Africa, Silva came to the United States during high school without speaking English and has worked incredibly hard to be comfortable speaking the language. An incredibly hard worker, when Silva first entered college, he had only a few years of organized basketball experience. He has worked tirelessly to hone his skills on the court, working toward his goals. One of his goals in coming to the United States was to make it to the NBA, and he took another step toward achieving that goal by declaring for the NBA Draft following his junior season and working out with multiple NBA organizations. Ultimately deciding to return to school for his senior season, Silva hopes to lead his team back to postseason play and continue working toward his degree.
Silva has participated in numerous community outreach events during his time at South Carolina. He has participated in events with the Special Olympics and Red Cross, and he has also spent time at events with the City of Columbia Park and Recreation Department, My Brother’s Keeper, Transitions and the Epworth Children’s Home and has visited veterans at the Dorn VA Medical Hospital in town. Silva has spent time visiting and interacting with children, members of the military and also attended a Christmas Party with youth from the Epworth’s Children Home. While on a team trip, Silva joined his teammates for a basketball event with Special Olympics in Costa Rica.
Silva has flourished on the court during his time at South Carolina. His statistical numbers have continued to improve each of his seasons, and he was part of a historical Gamecock run through March 2017 when South Carolina advanced to its first Final Four in school history. Following a breakout junior campaign in which he led the team in points (14.3) and rebounds (8.0) per game, Silva was named to the All-SEC First Team, the All-Defensive Team and named co-Defensive Player of the Year by league coaches. The accolades continued during the preseason of 2018, as he garnered preseason All-SEC First Team honors by the media.
For his career, Silva has 15 double-doubles, 55 double-figure scoring games and 39 games with two or more blocks. He entered the 2018-19 campaign 52 rebounds away from cracking the Gamecock top 10 in the career category. He’s tied for seventh with 124 career blocks, and he is five points away from moving to 43rd all-time in scoring at Carolina.