COLUMBIA, S.C. — Christian Schmitt is going to the Final Four — and he doesn't need a ticket.

He's hoping to have a uniform.

The 2016 Mars graduate and former Planet point guard is on the University of South Carolina men's basketball roster as a walk-on. The Gamecocks (26-10) take on Gonzaga in the NCAA Tournament semifinals at 6 p.m. Saturday in Phoenix.

“It's a crazy story,” Jeffrey Schmitt, Christian's father, said. “Christian was just trying to find a college to attend last summer.”

Schmitt averaged 11.8 points and six assists for Mars last year in helping the team reach the PIAA Class AAA championship game. He spurned Division II and III offers and opted to walk on at Furman University in South Carolina.

At the last minute, Schmitt decided not to attend Furman.

“I thought that's what I wanted,” Schmitt said of trying to play at Furman. “But after just reaching the state championship game with my 12 buddies ... I thought that was it. I just wasn't into it, so I de-committed a week later.”

That left him without any immediate college plans.

“The school just didn't feel right for him,” his father said. “But he definitely wanted to go to school down south, where it was warm.”

He wanted to go to a big school as well. Schmitt applied at Clemson, Georgia and South Carolina — just to go to school, not to play basketball.

Enrollment had ended at Clemson and Georgia, but South Carolina accepted him. Schmitt is majoring in supply chain management.

“At that point, Christian was just planning on being a student and playing intramural basketball,” Mars coach Rob Carmody said.

Schmitt had a friend attending South Carolina who told him about Brian Steele, a Hampton graduate and former Talbot basketball player who was a graduate assistant on the Gamecocks staff.

“I talked to him and he wasn't sure if they needed to add a player or not,” Schmitt said. “Next thing I know, I'm in their gym going one-on-one against another guy in a battle for the final roster spot.

“Then I get a call from Coach (Frank) Martin saying he needed a longer look at me than just a one-on-one game. He invited me to practice with the team for a week. After that, I was given a spot on the roster.”

Now he's on a Final Four team — the first in the school's history — and hopes to suit up on Saturday. He sat on the bench, out of uniform, during the Sweet 16 round at Madison Square Garden.

“You're only allowed to suit up 15 and I was No. 16,” Schmitt said. “Hopefully I can don the uniform this time.”

He got to take his turn at cutting down the net at the Garden regardless.

“I'll never forget that moment,” he said. “It's like it wasn't even real, wasn't really happening.”

Schmitt has seen action in five games this year, playing a total of seven minutes. He has not scored a point.

“There are other ways to contribute to a team,” Carmody said. “Christian has put in scout team work, helps prepare the front-line players during drills ... He's treated the same as any other player on that roster.

“Their coaches called me while they were checking him out and asked me what they should expect ... I told them to expect a guy who's going to work his tail off and do anything you ask him to do.”

Schmitt is 6-foot-1 and weighs 190 pounds. He has gained 20 pounds since going to South Carolina.

“He's pretty solid now ... much stronger,” his father said.

Schmitt said Coach Martin “gives everybody a fair shot in practice. It doesn't matter where you came from or how you got there.”

And Schmitt is still striving to make himself a better player.

“I've talked to him and he was upset he couldn't guard P.J. Dozier, their point guard, in practice,” Carmody said. “I told him there's only about four guys in the country who can guard P.J. Dozier. That's why he'll wind up in the NBA.

“But that's how Christian is. He earned our point guard spot as a sophomore and never let go of it. He'll do the same with this opportunity at South Carolina.

“The kid bet on himself. Now he's in the Final Four. That's every basketball player's dream. I'm proud of him,” Carmody said.

Dozier has about 20 pounds and five inches of height on Schmitt.

“He's great. Trying to guard him in practice ... yeah, right. But he's making me a better player,” Schmitt said.

Schmitt still keeps in constant contact with his former Mars teammates.

“They all support me and they're happy for me,” he said. “We do group texts all the time. They've teased me about their brackets, how most had us going out in the first or second round.

“One of my old teammates picked us to reach the Elite Eight. I know he's happy.”

As is Schmitt.

“I still can't believe I'm here,” he said of the Final Four site in Phoenix, Ariz. “We got off the plane and we got to ride in custom-made buses with South Carolina colors and our logo.

“Everything has worked out for me, that's for sure.”