Spurs & Feathers March 2020 - UofSC Gamecock Sports

MARCH 2020 • VOLUME 43 • ISSUE 3

NO. 1

Top-ranked Gamecocks win another SEC title

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TIP OFF South Carolina and head coach Dawn Staley celebrate their fifth SEC Tournament championship in the past six years. The No. 1 Gamecocks rolled through the SEC 19-0 and entered the NCAA Tournament as the top overall seed. Photo by Artie Walker Jr.

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32 GLORY DAYS

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CONTENTS

Coronavirus decisions impact Gamecocks, fans..............................................7

Columns

Gunter: Exciting trio returns for Gamecocks .................................................... 38

SCHEDULE Spurs & Feathers is the official publication of the University of South Carolina Gamecock Club. It is published monthly, 12 times per year and is available to Gamecock Club members as well as additional subscribers.

To opt in or subscribe, email subscribe@ spursandfeathers.com or call 843-853-7678.

The Gamecock Club and Spurs & Feathers thank you for your support. Below is our publication schedule for 2019:

May 20 June 24 July 22 Aug. 26

Hyber: Gamecocks, FAMS suffer most from NCAA decisions ................... 39

8 RYAN’S HOPE

H ILINSKI PROMISES BETTER DAYS AHEAD

Football

Pickens ready to be ‘Big Dog’................ 12

Sept. 23 Oct. 21 Nov. 25 Dec. 23

Basketball

Pure Dominance: Gamecocks roll through SEC................... 16

POSTAL INFORMATION SPURS & FEATHERS (USPS 12779) (ISSN7454368X) is published 12 times a year, monthly January-December. The annual subscription price is $50 for non Gamecock Club Members. Members of the Gamecock Club receive a discounted subscription as a member benefit. Spurs & Feathers is published by Evening Post Industries, 2101 Gervais St, Columbia, SC 29204.

Periodicals postage paid at Columbia, SC. Postmaster: Send changes to SPURS & FEATHERS, 2101 Gervais St. Columbia, SC 29204

Super Sub: Henderson provides big spark off bench..................................... 20 Mad Kiki: Herbert Harrigan has their back................................................. 22 Photos: SEC Tournament Champs....... 24

Baseball

Talking Baseball: A conversation with Michael Roth......................................... 28

Chase Heatherly Publisher/Advertising Director cheatherly@spursandfeathers.com 803-765-0707 x129 6

26 MAIK’S PLACE KOTSAR BECOMES SPECIAL PLAYER IN SENIOR SEASON

CORRECTION: In the February issue, the Zia Cooke feature on page 31 said South Carolina lost to No. 2 Baylor on Nov. 30. The Gamecocks actually lost to Indiana on Nov. 29. We regret the error.

On the Cover: Photo by Artie Walker Jr. | Design by Noah Taylor

EDITORIAL

STAFF

Strong Presence: Katie Prebble making big impact ...................................... 34 Gamecock News & Notes......................... 36

Editor’s Note: The editorial deadline for this issue was March 13.

Jan. 29 Feb. 26 March 25 April 22

Softball

Jeff Owens Executive Editor jowens@spursandfeathers.com Josh Hyber Staff Writer jhyber@spursandfeathers.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Bill Gunter, Langston Moore, Ed Girardeau, Brian Hand

PHOTOGRAPHERS Allen Sharpe Jenny Dilworth

PRODUCTION & DESIGN Lisa Willis Production Manager Noah Taylor Layout and Graphic Design

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Bailey Dunlap Multimedia Account Executive bdunlap@spursandfeathers.com 803-765-0707 ext123 Brooks Rogers Advertising Representative brogers@spursandfeathers.com 803-446-4022

MARCH 2020

NCAA, SEC event restrictions disappointing for Gamecock fans Staff report • Photos by Travis Bell and Allen Sharpe

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hen the NCAA and SEC announced that the NCAA Basketball Tournaments and other athletic events would be canceled due to the Coronavirus, no one was more disappointed than Dawn Staley and her No. 1-ranked Gamecocks.

The SEC champions, which lead the nation in attendance, were in line to be the top national seed and host the first two rounds of the women’s tournament at Colonia Life Arena.

Third- and fourth-round games were scheduled for Greenville, a likely destination for the No. 1-ranked Gamecocks. But those events and others were suddenly canceled March 11-12 due to health precautions surrounding the rapidlyspreading virus. The SEC canceled the men’s basketball tournament and suspended all other athletic events until at least April 15.

"This is a difficult time with so many conflicting emotions,” Staley said in a statement March 12. “First and foremost, we have to recognize how important it is to do the right

Ray Tanner

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thing for our community. Sports is a big part of our lives, but just one part of how we are connected to each other. We need to step back and think about the larger good served by canceling events that put people at risk.

"As competitors, we are certainly disappointed that we will not have the opportunity to contend for a second national championship.

That said, it will not diminish the way we look at our season, how we value our body of work over the last four months. We have measured ourselves against the best in the country over that time and will embrace and relish that accomplishment.

"For our seniors and the others throughout the country, who will not have the chance to finish their careers the way they expected to, that's a tougher, more emotional thing to process. Again, we have to lean on that this is the right thing for everyone's health and safety.”

After three days of rapidly changing updates, the SEC announced on March 13 that it had suspended all athletic activities, including competitions, team and individual workouts and practices and team meetings, until at least April 15. It had previously suspended all competitions through March 30, but expanded those restrictions after further developments and mass cancelations and suspensions of sports leagues and athletic competitions across the nation.

All university athletic practices and team workouts were suspended on March 13, with team meetings prohibited after 5 p.m. on March 16. The university extended its spring break through the week of March 16-21 and considered moving to online classes beyond that.

The restrictions suspended all South Carolina spring sports as well as spring football practice and the April 4 Garnet & Black Spring Game. The SEC had previously suspended all on-campus and off-campus recruiting. No decision had been announced by press time on March 13 on Will Muschamp’s annual Spurs Up Tour.

South Carolina announced it would issue refunds for tickets purchased for canceled events.

"The safety and well-being of our studentathletes, fans, coaches and staff is the most important responsibility we have in our athletics department," Athletics Director Ray Tanner said. "The decision to suspend athletics competition was a difficult decision for everyone in the league.”

The suspensions and postponements fell in line with similar restrictions from universities and athletic conference in the country, as well as the suspension of the NBA, NHL, MLB and other professional sports leagues and events.

"This is a public health situation that many of us have never experienced before," Tanner said. "Decisions have been and are being made with as much information as possible as expeditiously as necessary.”

As of press time, the NCAA, SEC and South Carolina were still working through issues related to the cancelations and season suspensions. The NCAA was considering granting an extra year of eligibility to student-athletes whose spring sports were suspended. It was also considering whether to grant a similar waiver to basketball players and athletes in other winter sports that did not get to compete in postseason tournaments and championship competitions and how such changes would impact scholarship and roster limits.

For more information on this developing story, please visit gamecocksonline.com or spursandfeathers.com.

SC ATHLETICS 7

FOOTBALL

Photo by Travis Bell

HANGING TOUGH

After surviving rough freshman season, quarterback Ryan Hilinski confident entering year two

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By Jeff Owens | Executive Editor yan Hilinski had just helped lead South Carolina to its biggest victory in almost 10 years, yet when the Gamecocks drove for the game-winning field goal against No. 3 Georgia, he was hobbled on the sideline.

Hilinski completed 15 of 20 passes for 116 yards and a touchdown in Athens, but had to be helped off the field in the third quarter after Georgia linebacker Adam Anderson landed on his left leg, bending his knee awkwardly.

He had taken several hard hits during the game, but the last one, which caused him to slam his hand into the turf as he writhed in pain, finished him for the day.

8 RYAN HILINSKI

After the game, Hilinski limped to midfield, where he hugged head coach Will Muschamp and told him, “I got your back coach. I’ll be back.”

It would not be the last time Hilinski would utter those words.

Two weeks later, he took a brutal beating at Tennessee, leaving the field at Neyland Stadium holding a bloody towel to his face after taking three sacks and several more hard hits in a staggering 41-21 loss.

But the next day, Hilinski was back at practice at the Long Family Football Operations Center. And a week later he completed 24 of 31 passes for 235 yards and two touchdowns in a 24-7 win over Vanderbilt.

Beaten, bruised, bloody and battered, Hilinski never backed down during a challenging freshman season as South Carolina’s starting quarterback. Though he was forced into the starting role in just his second career game as a freshman, though he struggled badly at times during a disappointing 4-8 season and though he endured multiple injuries, Hilinski never wavered and never let it get him down.

With what the 19-year-old sophomore has endured in his life, a few hard hits and a little physical pain are nothing.

“I’ve been through a lot of low points in my life,” Hilinski said during spring practice. “I had stuff come into my mind, but then I told myself, ‘that’s just life.’ We have low points and

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we have to bounce back from those things and you have to go to the next day because the next practice is going to come and if you are still in that low point, you are going to have another bad practice and it’s going to lead to another bad practice and it’s going to lead to another bad game. I didn’t really let those things affect me last year and I tried to not let it affect my teammates.”

Whenever doubt or regret creeped into his mind, he handled it the same way he has handled everything else in his life.

“It would sneak up on me, but then I would punch it right in the face and let it go back the way it came,” he said.

That won’t happen again. I got left with a bad taste in my mouth last season.

Personally, I will never let it happen again.

– RYAN HILINSKI ON LAST YEAR’S 4-8 SEASON The last two years have been an emotional roller coaster for Hilinski and his family. A month after Ryan’s junior season at Orange Lutheran High School in California, his older brother and hero, Tyler, died by suicide after suffering from a CTE brain injury as the quarterback at Washington State.

Using the memory of his brother as inspiration, Ryan finished his high school career as one of the most decorated quarterbacks in the country, earning numerous All-American honors and a national player of the year award.

A month later, he was on campus at South Carolina, competing with redshirt freshman Dakereon Joyner for the right to back up threeyear starter Jake Bentley.

When Bentley went down in the season opener with a season-ending foot injury, Hilinski was suddenly thrust into the starting role, and the roller coaster quickly turned into a whole new series of twists and turns.

After going through spring practice and his first fall training camp, was he ready to become South Carolina’s starting quarterback?

Bentley, who also took over Muschamp’s team as a true freshman, didn’t make his first start until the seventh game of the 2016 season.

“Absolutely,” Hilinski said. “I knew being the backup I had to be able go in and be able to execute when it was my time to shine. Coach gave me that opportunity … and I came in there and I had to be able to execute. I did feel ready.”

Hilinski got off to a strong start, completing his first 10 passes in his first start against Charleston Southern. He finished the day 24of-30 for 282 yards and two touchdowns in just three quarters of a 72-10 win. A week later, he had to face No. 1 Alabama.

Though the Gamecocks fell 47-23, Hilinski played well, completing 36 of 57 passes for 324 yards and two touchdowns despite being sacked three times and under pressure all day. The highlight was looking across the field and seeing legendary head coach Nick Saban, whom he had grown up watching. “That was really exciting to get that opportunity,” he said.

Though South Carolina was 1-2 after losing the season opener to North Carolina in Charlotte and to Alabama at home, Hilinski gave the Gamecocks hope with his first two performances. But he was in for a rude awakening the following week.

After suffering an elbow injury against Alabama, he missed most of practice in week four and struggled in his first SEC road game, completing just 13 of 30 passes for 166 yards in

an embarrassing 34-14 loss at Missouri. Hilinski fumbled into his own end zone after one of his passes was batted back to him in the first quarter, giving Missouri an early touchdown off the turnover. Later, he threw an interception that the Tigers returned 100 yards for a touchdown, sealing South Carolina’s fate.

Hilinski bounced back, however, putting together efficient performances in wins over Kentucky (24-7) and Georgia (20-17) before the Gamecocks ran off track again. He struggled at home against Florida (17-of-35 for 170) as the Gamecocks blew a third-quarter lead in a 38-27 loss. He played well the following week at Tennessee (28-of-51 for 319) but the defense collapsed and South Carolina blew another lead in a 41-21 loss.

Still hobbled by the Georgia injury, Hilinski took a beating in the two losses, getting sacked six times and suffering several other knockdowns and hard hits. The injuries eventually took a toll and he played his worst football — as did his teammates — in losses to Appalachian State, Texas A&M and Clemson

Photo by Allen Sharpe

F

MARCH 2020

RYAN HILINSKI 9 CHARLESTON SOUTHERN BUCCANEERS • OPPONENT PREVIEW

Kelly, Kym (front) and Mark (center) Hilinski with family and friends at Williams-Brice Stadium.

Photo by Josh Hyber in the last three games of the season. After the season, he had surgery to repair a torn MCL. He took it all in stride, however, while his teammates marveled at his ability to keep playing and keep fighting.

“You have to stand in there and take some hits sometimes and deliver some balls,” wide receiver Bryan Edwards said. “And Ryan does a great job of that. He never complains. He gets up. He dusts himself off and he keeps going. To see that out of a true freshman is special.”

“He’s a guy who is going to get right back up,” center Donell Stanley said. “It shows how tough he is.”

“It’s just part of the job,” Hilinski said.

“You have got to get hit. It makes it even better when you throw a ball and you get a completion. Then you don’t really feel those hits anymore.”

From the elbow injury and strained knee to a bloody face and numerous bumps and bruises, Hilinski never backed down, even when his team continued to struggle all around him.

“Everybody has physical issues,” he said.

“I had bruises everywhere, but that’s just part of the game. I kinda liked it because I knew I’m getting hit and I’m going back in there just like everybody else on this team.”

SUPPORT SYSTEM Through the struggles, Hilinski leaned on his coaches and teammates for support. The best advice he got was from Bentley, who told him to “just shake it off, let the last play go, let the next play happen.”

Though Hilinski was a physical wreck by the end of the season and his team headed toward a disappointing 4-8 season, his confidence was never shaken, his teammates say.

“His confidence was never a problem at all,” offensive lineman Sadarius Hutcherson said. “Ryan was always the same.”

“Ryan is a physically and mentally tough kid, I think more so than people realize outside the facility,” said his dad, Mark, who talked to his son often throughout the season.

10 RYAN HILINSKI

Columbia University and Weber State, Kelly took Ryan in, gave him another place to live off campus and often had dinner waiting on him after practice or classes.

“He would just talk to me about stuff,” Ryan said. “Some things you can talk to your parents about, but some things you can only talk to your brother about. I’m just so glad that Kelly can do that for me and I still got a brother here to do that with.”

Hilinski is also grateful to Gamecock fans, who have supported him and his family and their Hilinski’s Hope foundation, which helps raise awareness of mental illness among young people. Hilinski took the field each week holding up three fingers to honor his brother, who wore No. 3. At the Alabama game, the entire crowd participated by holding up three fingers at the start of the third quarter, a tribute that became a Williams-Brice tradition.

“It’s been really, really special,” Ryan said.

“Going from coast to coast, it’s just really, really cool to see all these people buy into something they are not even familiar with. I think when we saw that first third quarter in the Alabama game, that really touched us and touched our family.”

Support like that means a lot to the Hilinski family.

“Tyler is such a big part of our lives still and we miss that kid terribly,” Mark said.

“Ryan obviously early in the season was very demonstrative about that and we are so grateful for the fans at Carolina for starting that 3 in the third quarter.

“I think there is an incaluable amount of resilience that gets transferred back out of Williams-Brice onto those guys. For Ryan, for sure, that lifted him the rest of the year and he continued to fight for his team and his coaches and his community here.”

“We talked like any father and son about those things and you remind them, you wanted to play in the SEC East. This is a tough place to be and you’re competing against the best guys in the country and just keep that in mind during all the tough stuff. But it also shows how much effort and hard work goes into being a quality football player in our league and on that team.”

When times got really tough, Hilinski had one of the strongest support systems in college football with a family united by tragedy. After Tyler’s death, Mark and Kym Hilinski traveled with Ryan on all his recruiting visits and decided then they that would move the family wherever Ryan chose to attend school. They moved from California to Lexington, S.C. when Ryan enrolled at South Carolina and were at every football game — home and away — last season. After home games, Ryan would meet his parents and a large group of family and friends for dinner.

“They have been everything to me,” he said. “They have helped me through thick and After a year to adjust to his new surroundings thin.” and his role as South Carolina’s starting quar“I think it probably helped us as terback, Hilinski says much as it helped him,” Mark said. he feels more “After Tyler passed, we all sort of comfortable made a decision to all be as close toand confident gether as we could be. … I think we going into were in a unique position that there his second is a lot going on and there is a lot for season. us to check in on with each other, and being together, I thought, was a real important deal.”

Though his parents give Ryan the freedom to enjoy campus life and the college experience, they are always close by when he needs them.

“We certainly enjoy seeing Ryan as much as we are able to and see him play football and get on with his life and be there to support him,” Mark said. “I think it’s a big family win.

Photo by I think it’s a home run for all of us in that Allen Sharpe respect.”

Ryan also leans on his older brother, Kelly, who is in medical school and also lives in the Columbia area. A former quarterback at

THE NEXT BIG CHALLENGE

MARCH 2020

He’s gained weight, is bigger and stronger than last season and spent the offseason working on his throwing motion and mechanics. He’s also worked on his mobility, which became a sore spot last season, with coaches and fans joking that he was “slower than a semi-truck.� “I have been working in the training room non-stop, just getting my legs stronger,� he said. “I know I can run faster now. I feel faster in practice. I might not be as fast when I look at the film, but I feel super fast when I am out on the field. I’m moving around a little bit, I’m feeling good and I’m feeling confident in my movement in the pocket and escapability and stuff like that.�

Now comes the biggest challenge — adjusting to the intense, no-nonsense style of new offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Mike Bobo and learning a new offense that will require him play more under center for the first time since his sophomore year of high school. After spending hours with Bobo during the offseason, he has fully embraced the challenge. “Everybody is buying in and feeling confident and excited about this new offense,� he said.

Bobo was pleased with Hilinski’s development during spring practice. When the two first met, he told his young quarterback “your footwork is terrible,� but after two weeks of practice, he said Hilinski had improved his footwork, mobility and accuracy.

“And I have been real impressed with him in the meeting room, how sharp he is, how smart he is, how he comes in prepared before the meetings and before we even get into the install he has taken the time to look at it,�

Bobo said. “He has arm talent, he’s athletic enough. I wouldn’t call him a dual-threat quarterback, but he’s athletic enough to move around the pocket and make some plays.�

Bobo sees a maturing, mentally tough quarterback determined to get better and put last year’s struggles behind him. One he believes can succeed if the Gamecocks can improve their protections, run game and the rest of the offense around him. “He was a freshman last year and we threw it 466 times and he got hit a lot, and that wears on a young guy,� he said. “But I haven’t seen a guy who has lost his confidence or become gun shy. I haven’t seen that from him.�

Hilinski knows he must play better than last season, when he completed just 58 percent of his passes while throwing for 2,357 yards and 11 touchdowns. Though he had three 300-yard games, he passed for fewer than 200 yards six times. “I’ve got to play better, I’ve got to,� he said. “I had a couple of moments [last year] I felt were good and a couple of opportunities where I said, ‘Hey, I’ll go out there and throw some touchdowns.’ But other than that, I have to play better and I put that on myself.�

If he does, South Carolina’s offense should improve after averaging just 372 yards per game and 5.2 yards per play last season.

Photo by Jenny Dilworth Hilinski promises that it will, and vows that Gamecocks fans won’t have to endure another 4-8 season. “That won’t happen again,� he said. “I got left with a bad taste in my mouth last season. I have never had a four-win season in my career.

Personally, I will never let it happen again and I can tell you all the players on this team are confident in our season going forward and in our championship offense.�

 �� � �

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RYAN HILINSKI 11

Photo by SC Athletics

THE NEXT BIG ‘DOG’ Zacch Pickens working to become Gamecocks’ next impact player

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By Jeff Owens | Executive Editor acch Pickens lights up when you ask him about his favorite play from last season.

He remembers it vividly. It was the Nov. 16 game at Texas A&M and quarterback Kellen Mond threw a short pass to tight end Jalen Wydermyer. As Wydermyder (five catches for 79 yards) cut up field, Pickens, a 300-pound defensive tackle, ran him down and made the tackle.

“I was all the way down there and I hawked the tight end down,” Pickens said, grinning.

“It was actually pretty far, I was kinda tired after that. … It was a run now. Yeah, it was a run …

The next play, coach me got out of there.”

It was one of the few highlights for Pickens, who had just 16 tackles in an eye-opening freshman season. But it showed the potential and impressive athleticism of Will Muschamp’s first five-star recruit and why his coaches and teammates believe Pickens will emerge as South Carolina’s next big impact player on defense.

“My freshman season, I think I could have done a little better,” Pickens said. “But it’s a work in progress.”

Muschamp landed Pickens out of T.L. Hanna High School, where he was rated the No. 1

12 FOOTBALL • ZACCH PICKENS

defensive end in the country.

As a high school senior, he had 87 tackles, including 15 tackles for loss. He also rushed for 889 yards as a fullback in earning South Carolina’s “Mr. Football.”

He arrived at South Carolina with huge expectations, but faced a major challenge when Muschamp decided to move him from defensive end to defensive tackle, a position he had never played before and is still learning. Though he was rated the best defensive end in the country, Muschamp believed he had the size and strength to play in the middle and Pickens agreed to the change.

“It was a conversation, but I was really just mainly here to help the team,” the humble Pickens said. “Wherever they wanted me, that’s where they put me. We were loading down on D-Tackle, so I was like, ‘Coach, I’ll play D-Tackle.’”

Though Pickens played in every game, he played only about 15 snaps a game backing up seniors Javon Kinlaw and Kobe Smith. It was a learning experience for a player who was dominant as an edge rusher. He struggled with his footwork, the speed of the game, double teams and being so close to the ball and point of attack.

MARCH 2020

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Photo by Travis Bell “Physically, he looks different. He looks a lot bigger,” said linebacker Ernest Jones, the team’s defensive captain. “Zacch is taking the initiative to come out every day and work. Last year he would have spurts, but this year he is coming in and is constantly doing his thing and doing his job. I’m excited to see his ceiling and see where he can go.”

Senior defensive tackle Keir Thomas believes he will go far, paying him the highest compliment.

“Zacch has the chance to be the best player in the league,” he said.

The comparisons to Kinlaw have already begun. Kinlaw arrived at South Carolina as an overweight, out-of-shape defensive tackle still learning how to play football. Two years later, he dominated the SEC, earning AllAmerican honors and wowing NFL scouts.

Pickens watched and learned, following Kinlaw’s example and gleaning everything he could from a player with similar size and stature.

“He taught me how to fight, how to keep coming,” Pickens said. “He said the same thing that Coach Rocker said, there is something in me, there’s just missing pieces. He said it took him three years, it’s going to take you three years or more.

But I took that and I’m trying to do better.

“I really look up to Kinlaw.

He’s kinda like an older brother and I try to emulate him. But

14 FOOTBALL • ZACCH PICKENS

I have to be better in my own way.”

Robinson hopes Pickens and all of his defensive linemen follow the example of Kinlaw, who helped turn the defensive line into a team strength last year.

“As a defense, we’ve been showing a lot of clips of Javon playing,” he said. “The good thing is, when you come in and you’ve got good players in front of you, you know what it’s sup-

posed to look like. A lot of times when you’re a young player, you don’t know what it looks like.

You don’t know what good is. “[Zacch] was able to see good first-hand and see how [Javon] practiced, how he worked, how he carried himself inside and outside the building. [Javon] set a positive example for him and we’re excited about it and I believe Zacch has seen the way.

Now it’s up to him to do it.”

Muschamp believes he will, just like Kinlaw.

“The great thing about Zacch is, he is a great learner, a great worker, an unbelievable young man that wants [it],” he said.

“He’s a pleaser, and he wants to do everything the right way.

And when you have that kind of attitude everyday and that kind of work ethic every single day, then that’s going to translate to good things when you have the athletic ability that he has.”

Pickens is doing everything he can to get there.

“It’s a work in progress, but I’m slowly starting to get myself prepared,” he said.

“The best dishwasher we’ve ever tested.”

– Reviewed.com, Best of Year awards

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“D-End, it’s like you have all this space, where D-Tackle, you are right there,” he said.

“Zacch, athletically, from a girth standpoint, from an intelligence standpoint, from a work ethic standpoint, has a lot of ability,” Muschamp said. “[But] I always say, the closer your position moves to the ball, the harder it is to play as a young player, because the game is much faster, it’s much bigger, it’s much more complex than what you’ve ever been used to playing in high school. That’s just part of it. Javon was nowhere near the player his first year as he was his last year, I mean, not even comparable.”

Pickens was most surprised by the speed of offensive players in the SEC, including mammoth offensive linemen.

“Those guys are really fast,” he said. “But now it’s time for me to get faster just like them.

I’ve had enough time to practice hard and I have enough time to prepare myself better this season.”

With the loss of Smith and Kinlaw, who is expected to be a first-round pick in next month’s NFL Draft, South Carolina is counting on Pickens to move into a starting role this season with returning seniors Keir Thomas and Jabari Ellis and junior Rick Sandidge.

“We need him to play inside.

We need him to be really good inside,” defensive coordinator Travaris Robinson said. “He’ll play three-technique, he’ll play some shade, he’ll play some different things on the front.

He’s able to do that because he’s a very physical and athletic guy.

He’s got to continue to learn the scheme and continue to learn how we want to play.”

Pickens is working with new defensive line coach Tracy Rocker, a former NFL player and All-American at Auburn. He says Rocker is pushing to “get the dog out of me.”

“He knows it’s in me, but it’s a work in progress too. But he’s going to get it out of me,” he said.

His teammates see a different player than the freshman who struggled last season.

“He’s very strong, very powerful,” offensive lineman Sadarius Hutcherson said.

MARCH 2020

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February 2019

CHAMPIONSHIP CELEBRATION No. 1 Gamecocks make history as they roll through SEC Tournament

T

By Josh Hyber | Staff writer • Photos by Artie Walker Jr. he glowing endorsements from opposing coaches throughout the season rolled in as often as Mikiah Herbert Harrigan swished baseline jumpers.

As often as Ty Harris assists, Aliyah Boston blocks and LeLe Grissett hustle plays.

In other words, frequently, and in bunches.

In January, Mississippi State’s Vic Schaefer, who has coached in two national championship games, compared No. 1 South Carolina to Pat Summit’s teams at Tennessee. He said after his team fell to the Gamecocks in the SEC Tournament title game, “If they do have a hole, it ain’t very big.”

Offered Arkansas’ Mike Neighbors, “You cannot have any lapses against the number one team in America. They’re too good, too balanced, too well-coached. They’re too everything.”

Summed up Connecticut’s Geno Auriemma after South Carolina’s first victory over the Huskies in nine tries, “They’re not number one in the country for no reason.”

Gamecock head coach Dawn Staley, despite a slight hesitance to offer any bold proclamations, had a different tone compared to previous seasons when talking about her team. She wasn’t afraid to talk about New Orleans, site of this season's Final Four.

“I don’t think anybody has the résumé that we have,” she said after the SEC Tournament.

In her 12 seasons at South Carolina, Staley has built the Gamecocks into a national power.

Eight of her 12 teams have had a win total better or the same as the season before.

This season she and her team met enormous expectations with formidable results and entered the NCAA Tournament as the No. 1 overall seed.

She started three freshmen in 33 games and won 32 of them, including 11 of 12 against ranked opponents. With just two seniors, she won all 16 conference games. With a relentless defense and a deep bench her team had a program-best 26-game win streak.

MARCH 2020

It won its fifth SEC Tournament in six seasons.

The 2020 tournament was a display of the team’s brilliance and ability to put away opponents.

In the championship game, it led Mississippi State — a team it beat by two points during the regular season — by more than 16 points from the 6:51 mark of the third quarter until 29 seconds left in the game.

It had a 14-0 run in the semifinal against Arkansas that stretched from late in the third quarter to the fourth and turned a 10-point lead into 21.

You cannot have any lapses against the number one team in America. They’re too good, too balanced, too well-coached. They’re too everything.

– ARKANSAS HEAD COACH MIKE NEIGHBORS

It was the team’s uncanny chemistry that led the way.

In the middle of the third quarter against the Bulldogs, Boston came down with a rebound and, without taking a dribble, tossed a pass ahead to Harris. Harris took one dribble and, near the half-court line, threw a pass un-

SEC CHAMPIONS 17

derneath the basket to a racing Herbert Harrigan.

But Herbert Harrigan was running too fast — close to the out-of-bounds line — and was forced to turn around and feed Zia Cooke. Cooke, to the right of the basket, took a sidestep and threw a pass to a wide-open Brea Beal, who banked in a layup.

Five players touched the ball.

One dribble. Two points.

Then it was South Carolina’s stingy defense, which during the regular season held Ole Miss to just two first-half points and UConn to two first-quarter points.

The Gamecocks held Mississippi State leading scorer Rickea Jackson (15 points per game) to nine and second-leading scorer Jessika Carter (13) to just five. In the semifinal it held Arkansas leading scorer Chelsea Dungee (17) to 12 and second-leading scorer Alexis Tolfree (16) to six.

The team’s 31 blocks were the most by one team in conference tournament history.

Then it was the team’s bench, which six times during the regular season outscored an opponent’s entire starting lineup. It outscored its bench counterparts 13 times during SEC play and did so nine times against ranked foes.

“Let’s be frank, everybody springing off the bench could be starting somewhere else,” Georgia head coach Joni Taylor said.

“… You just never can get a break because they just come in and they keep coming at you, coming at you.”

Against Mississippi State, Grissett, Destanni Henderson and Victaria Saxton combined for 21 points and shot 50 percent from the field. They also combined for 12 rebounds.

Along the way, the success South Carolina had was matched only by the fun it had.

On the floor at Bon Secours Wellness Arena, Staley danced with the Carolina Band. Guard Olivia Thompson made “snow” angels in a pile of confetti. Saxton proudly carried her 5-monthold niece Aubreigh. Cooke and Laeticia Amihere took photos with fans from Chapman (S.C.) High School.

It wasn’t a national titlewinning celebration, but it was a celebration worthy of a team that answered major questions throughout the season.

Would its number one recruiting class live up to the billing? It did.

Would senior Herbert Harrigan channel her emotions into a positive force? She did.

How would Henderson and Grissett handle playing off the bench after most thought they would start? Exceptionally.

The results proved Staley and her staff of Lisa Boyer, Jolette Law and Fred Chmiel can convince the nation’s most talented high school players to buy into a system. Since she was hired in 2008, Staley has made South Carolina a place top recruits want to come.

In 2009 she brought in the nation’s number two recruit, Kelsey Bone, and along the way has made sure the most dominant regional products stay home: Goose Creek’s Aleighsa Welch (2011), Myrtle Beach’s Khadijah Sessions (2012), Charlotte’s Tiffany Mitchell (2012) and Spring Valley’s Asia Dozier (2012).

Then, the stars that brought Kiki Herbert the program from very good Harrigan to great: Dutch Fork’s Alaina Coates (2013) and Heathwood Hall’s A’ja Wilson (2014).

Top prospects from all around the country have come: Bianca Cuevas-Moore from New York, Harris from Indiana and Herbert Harrigan from Florida.

18 SEC CHAMPIONS

Along the way, Staley has turned a small collection of fans into a community, a family and a diehard fanbase known as the FAMS. In a span of seven seasons the Gamecocks have gone from 45th in the nation in attendance per game to first. From 2013 to 2016 it finished in the top three in largest attendance-per-game increase, even though the last two it already led the country in attendance per game.

This is a national championshippotential winning team.

– VANDERBILT HEAD COACH STEPHANIE WHITE

This season, for the fifth straight time, South Carolina led the nation in average attendance with 12,185 per game and was the only program that drew more than 11,000 per game. The team has drawn at least 10,000 fans for 82 straight regular-season home games.

This season is historical on several levels, regardless of how it ends.

South Carolina had 32 wins entering the NCAA Tournament, two shy of the single-season program record. It was also on pace to have its highest-ever points per game, point margin, rebounds per game, rebound margin, blocked shots and best-ever win percentage.

The high points include the UConn win, Boston’s triple double in her career debut and Harris setting the program’s career assists record.

Yes, South Carolina won a national championship in 2017, but the common sentiment from opposing coaches during the season was that Staley, the SEC Coach of the Year, had her best team to date.

“This is a national championship-potential winning team,” said Vanderbilt head coach Stephanie White, who as a player led Purdue to the national title in 1999. “It’s a lot of fun to be on the floor and be able to witness it. … I think they just keep getting better.”

Harris and Boston were firstteam All-SEC selections, while Boston won the league’s Freshman and Defensive Player of the Year. Herbert Harrigan was a second-team All-SEC selection, while Boston was named to the SEC All-Defensive team and was joined by Cooke on the AllFreshman team.

But Staley didn’t pay too much attention to those honors.

Said the coach, with a smirk, before the SEC Tournament, “I like big hardware.”

MARCH 2020

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SEC CHAMPIONS 19

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Good enough to start, Destanni Henderson provides big spark off bench

D

By Josh Hyber | Staff Writer • Photo by Artie Walker Jr. estanni Henderson started nine games for South Carolina last season and played 13 minutes or more in 20 of them, including 30 at Florida, 29 against Texas A&M, 27 against Kentucky and 16 against Florida State in the NCAA Tournament.

She was a key component for the team, providing a steady hand off the bench. She was also one of the team’s prominent voices.

It was widely believed Henderson would enter the starting lineup this season with the loss of guards Bianca Cuevas-Moore, Te’a Cooper, Nelly Perry, Doniyah Cliney and Bianca Jackson.

But not so fast.

The sophomore Henderson had not started any games for the Gamecocks entering the NCAA Tournament, though she was a star off the bench. She averaged the fifth-most minutes on the team (23.4 per game),

had the second most assists and third most steals.

“Every player, no matter what they say, wants to start,” Dawn Staley said in late January. “[But Destanni is] a pretty emotionless kid. She’s not going to let you see what she’s thinking.

She always has great responses.

You’re not going to shake her equilibrium.”

The South Carolina head coach admitted there was a dip in Henderson’s play for a few days after she announced her starting lineup, but Henderson quickly turned that around.

“Great players are able to bounce back and figure it out … and that’s what she has done,” Staley said.

Henderson shined in the SEC Tournament, scoring a careerhigh 21 points on 8-of-14 shooting (4-of-9 from 3) and had four assists and three rebounds in the semifinal win over Arkansas.

“I just saw the [Destanni] that I’ve always seen,” South

20 BASKETBALL • DESTANNI HENDERSON

Carolina guard Zia Cooke said.

“A lot of people haven’t had the chance to see how good she really is. I thought she should have gotten Sixth Man of the Year.

She can be a starter. She’s very good.”

Said Henderson, “It felt good having an early start, knocking down shots, just staying in the flow of the game, moving up and down the court really.

“It can be hard sometimes coming off the bench, not knowing the flow of the game, having a slow start. But today I came out ready, confident, ready to shoot the ball, running up and down the floor, playing good defense. Just like communicating and playing with my team.”

A Henderson 3 — which she emphasized by holding her follow through — gave South Carolina a 65-48 third-quarter lead over the Razorbacks, and a three-point play four minutes into the fourth quarter gave her the career-high.

“Whenever her number is called, Destanni is ready to do anything you need her to do.

She’s so fast, who can stop her?

Pullups, anything,” LeLe Grissett said.

Added Ty Harris, “She was in her bag today. She was shooting 3s, midrange, assisting and playing point guard. We just had to get her the ball and continue to see what she could do.”

The SEC Tournament performance was an exclamation point on an already successful season for the Fort Myers, Fla. product.

She had 10 points and seven assists in the SEC Tournament quarterfinal against Georgia.

She had eight assists against Kentucky. She had a career-high five steals at Temple on Dec. 7, the most by a Gamecock since 2018.

On Jan. 29, Henderson spoke about her role.

“I’m definitely a starter,” she said. “Coach always tells me all the time that I’m a starter and I’m capable of starting. I just have to stay positive no matter what my role is. I’ve just got to feed into that and feed off the energy of the team and give them energy when I’m on the bench.

“I’ve just got to have my mind right when I’m on the bench.”

That comment came after Henderson had 14 points and six assists at Georgia — a performance on the heels of a discussion with Staley about a dip in overall bench play.

“I got it,” she told Staley. “I’m focused. I’m good.”

“That’s the Destanni we know, that’s the Destanni we’ll need in order for us to keep having success,” the coach said.

“She’s taken onus [of the second unit]. … When she’s going, we’re a different basketball team.”

A top player nationally in high school, Henderson admits it’s not always easy playing fewer minutes than some of her teammates.

“Sometimes I have to [make sure I’m keeping] my head in the game … so when coach does come to me, I’m prepared,” she said.

She has been, and is a major factor in South Carolina’s success.

MARCH 2020

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21

Herbert Harrigan backs her team, leads Gamecocks to SEC title

S

By Josh Hyber | Staff writer • Photo by Artie Walker Jr.

omewhere in the pandemonium of South Carolina’s post-SEC Tournament championship celebration, Dawn Staley found Mikiah Herbert Harrigan.

“I know you didn’t envision this a few months ago,” the coach told her.

“I didn’t,” the senior replied. “But now I’m a believer.”

Long before that, South Carolina fans believed in the player now known as Mad Kiki.

Herbert Harrigan, a ferocious defender and lethal shooter, was South Carolina’s wild card entering this season. But when the cards were dealt, she turned up aces.

Entering the NCAA Tournament she led the team in points per game (13.1) and was second in rebounds (5.6) and blocks per game (1.6).

She averaged 14.6 points per game in the SEC Tournament and took home Most Outstanding Player honors.

“I think Mad Kiki is the best Kiki,” senior Ty Harris said. “She gets real mad and then she starts playing harder. I mean, that’s just who she is. She sticks up for her teammates. It gets the crowd riled up.”

No moment was more “Mad Kiki” than just before halftime in the championship game when South Carolina center Aliyah Boston and Mississippi State’s Yemiyah Morris got tangled up underneath the basket. Herbert Harrigan rushed over and got in the face of Morris, someone four inches taller than her.

“I just gotta stick up for my teammates.

I’m not going to let anybody try them. So I’m gonna be there for them,” Herbert Harrigan said. “I just didn’t like what she said.”

Technical fouls were given to both players.

“Kiki, she wants all the smoke,” Staley said after the game, referring to her player’s uncanny ability to find herself in the middle of chaos. “She wants it all. “[But] for us, I think Kiki has a real good understanding of how she needs to play, what needs to get done. We’ve been through that, like, three years ago with Kiki. She’s the only question mark when it comes to that. She has it under control.

“We just explain to her what she means to our team. If we lose her, we lose a big part of what we do and who we are.”

Said Herbert Harrigan, “That emotion does help fuel my game.”

22 BASKETBALL • MIKIAH HERBERT HARRIGAN

It fueled her to six blocks in the tournament, including one in the championship game that was emphasized by a dramatic head roll. It fueled her to 15 rebounds.

Just over a minute after the fuss, Herbert Harrigan blocked a shot by Mississippi State’s Jordan Danberry. Though she was subbed out moments later, Herbert Harrigan scored nine points and blocked a shot in the third quarter.

The “Mad Kiki” moniker took off on social media as the regular season wound down, and it quickly made its way onto T-shirts.

“Kiki is always gonna go. She’s got your back no matter what,” junior guard LeLe Grissett told The State. “But Mad Kiki, that’s different right there.”

As Staley referred, Herbert Harrigan was not always a believer. It’s widely known she considered transferring from South Carolina before this season. But as she said before the season, she knew deep down being a Gamecock was what she wanted, and she broke down crying when she told Staley she wanted to come back.

“We can go back a few months, when she said this isn’t the place she wants to be, this place doesn’t make her happy,” Staley said after the SEC Tournament final.

Now it’s the complete opposite.

Herbert Harrigan f lashed her wide smile and said after the title win, “This was great.

It’s just really fun out there playing with this group of girls. We have a lot of fun together playing. That makes it a hundred times better.”

MARCH 2020

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JOURNEY TO SUCCESS

From key freshman to senior leader, Maik Kotsar became special player

By Josh Hyber | Staff writer • Photos by Allen Sharpe

26 BASKETBALL • MAIK KOTSAR

aik Kotsar had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 37 minutes played, extending his careerbest streak to nine straight games with double-figure points, but the South Carolina senior saved his highlight moment for the final seconds.

With five seconds to go in overtime and the Gamecocks clinging to a two-point lead over Georgia on Feb. 26, Kotsar drew a charge on Bulldog point guard Sahvir Wheeler.

“I just saw him coming and knew I had to be on help defense,” Kotsar said though a wide smile. “And I guess I just stood there.”

He did, and it was a standout moment during South Carolina's late-season stretch.

A week later, Gamecock head coach Frank Martin restated the case for Kotsar to win SEC Defensive Player of the Year and elaborated on how the latter has been the underlying reason the Gamecocks have been so successful defensively over the past four seasons.

“It’s him. He’s the reason. He’s the reason that we’ve been that good defensively,” the coach said. “He’s the best team defender in the league. Maik’s always in the right place.”

Before the Gamecocks entered the SEC Tournament, Kotsar was first on the team in rebounds per game (6.3), blocks (34), field goals made (145) and third in points per game (11.2).

On Senior Night against Mississippi State, the Estonia native led the Gamecocks with 20 points, four assists and two rebounds.

“Kotsar is such a great player and such a problem. … He’s like automatic from 17 feet.

He’s going to make a lot of money playing basketball for a long time,” Bulldogs head coach Ben Howland said. “ … [He] was really good as a freshman. We played him. I remember. They beat us twice that year. “… Kotsar is special. With his ball-handling skills, his passing skills, his footwork, his lateral quickness, to go with that body, he can play in the NBA. … He’s a special talent and a great kid. He’s an all-league player, first team in the SEC.” “To play my last game at the CLA and get the win, just to play with the guys one last time, it meant a lot,” Kotsar said. “You can always do better, but at the same time I feel like we fought really hard.

“It was a great way to go out.”

Added Martin, “When you’re a college coach, you coach to see guys like Maik Kotsar.

That’s what it’s all about. I’m real proud of him.”

In the end, Kotsar was named a secondteam All-SEC member but did not make the conference's all-defensive team.

The first thing Martin mentioned when asked about Kotsar’s legacy was, “that 15-foot jump shot.”

“If you look back on his freshman year, he made one to send us to like the most incredible moment this university has ever experienced in men’s basketball,” Martin said, referring to a transition jumper Kotsar sank that gave South Carolina a 67-63 lead with 1:55 remaining in its Elite Eight win over Florida in 2017. “And if you

MARCH 2020

keep hitting fast forward, his senior year has been just full of 15-foot jump shots. “And then his courage. ‌ [To] leave his family behind and come to a country, to learn the game of basketball, to play it competitively against the best, I’ve challenged him a lot. ‌ Last year I was really hard on him, because he needed it. “He can be so good.â€?

That sentiment was echoed after Kotsar scored 10 points

and grabbed six rebounds against LSU. After that game, despite a Gamecock loss, Will Wade mentioned how Kotsar does a lot of “big-time� things. “They’re not the same team without him,� the Tigers head coach said.

Seven days earlier, Rick Barnes expressed similar sentiments. “[After the game] I told [Maik] I love him,� the Tennessee head coach said. “I’ve enjoyed competing against him as much as I have anyone we’ve played in my time at Tennessee because of how much he’s developed and how much he works and stretched his game. To me he’s turned into what I think Frank wants in a player.�

Kotsar’s senior season success can be linked to his increased confidence and focus. Despite struggles throughout his career — and at times harsh criticism from Martin — he worked on believing in himself. He slowly became a vocal leader, which he credits to the coaching staff. “He never, never ran away, whether it was from not playing well, whether it’s from the responsibilities, whether it’s me down his throat to play better. He’s continued to grow and that’s all you ever ask for as a coach,� Martin said.

Kotsar started on the Gamecocks’ Final Four team and was a glue piece alongside Sindarius Thornwell, P.J. Dozier, Duane Notice and Chris Silva. He accepted his role and was — to use Martin’s words — “at peace� with it.

Gradually his role increased, and it took time and maturation to become accus-

Better Better together. together. + +

+ +

He’s the reason that we’ve been that good defensively. He’s the best team defender in the league.

Maik’s always in the right place. – FRANK MARTIN

tomed to it. It took patience and willingness to work.

That’s what Martin will remember most and be the proudest about when he reflects on Kotsar’s career. “That’s the only thing that matters,â€? the coach said. “Because when Maik is done here in a couple months and gets his degree and walks out the door, he’s in real life. It’s no longer Frank being hard on him. No, life is going to be hard on him every day for the rest of his life. Not Frank. Life. “Hopefully we’ve helped prepare him so he can handle adversity ‌ on his journey to success.â€?

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MAIK KOTSAR 27

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‘A FUN TEAM’ CWS hero Michael Roth relives memories of 2010 national championship

By Jeff Owens | Executive Editor • Photos by Allen Sharpe

I

t’s been 10 years since the greatest season in Gamecock Baseball history, since Ray Tanner’s 2010 team delivered South Carolina’s first major national championship by winning the first of two straight College World Series titles.

The 2010 team started a stretch of unprecedented success for South Carolina, which not only won two straight national championships but set an NCAA record with 22 consecutive postseason wins, including 12 in the College World Series. The Gamecocks’ 30-4 postseason record from 2010-2012 is the fifth-best three-year mark in NCAA history.

No one epitomizes that streak of excellence more than star pitcher Michael Roth, who, like his teammates, had one of the best three-year runs in South Carolina history.

Roth is best known for writing one of the best underdog stories in College World Series history in 2010, when he came out of the bullpen to start an elimination game against rival Clemson and threw a complete game to eliminate the Tigers and help South Carolina advance to the finals. He then produced another magnificent start in the championship game against UCLA to lead the Gamecocks to their first national title.

A year later, Roth emerged as one of the best pitchers in the country, going 14-3 with a 1.06 ERA in 2011 to earn consensus All-American honors and lead South Carolina to a second straight national championship. After another stellar season in 2012 — including another run to the CWS finals — Roth finished his career with a 26-6 record and 1.91 ERA in 354 innings.

Roth was at his best in the postseason, compiling an 8-0 record and 1.33 ERA in 95 innings in the NCAA Tournament. He made eight starts in the College World Series, throwing a record 60.1 innings from

28 MICHAEL ROTH

2010-12. His four CWS wins are one shy of teammate Matt Price’s record and his 1.49 ERA is the fifth-lowest in College World Series history.

As Gamecock Baseball celebrates the 10-year anniversary of the 2010 national championship, Spurs & Feathers Editor Jeff Owens sat down with Roth to relive the 2010 season and his postseason magic.

Kip Bouknight, Ray Tanner, and Michael Roth

MARCH 2020

A CONVERSATION WITH MICHAEL ROTH

Looking back on that season, do you have a favorite memory or moment that stands out from that College World Series?

To beat Clemson in the College World Series in an elimination game, does it get much better than that?

“I wouldn’t say there was one moment that stands out, there were a lot of moments in that entire run that were just a ton of fun. The game at Coastal Carolina and how hot it was and the comeback that we had and then celebrating by jumping in the ocean. Just all the travel and stuff like that, that was just so much fun and that team was so close.

It was such a strong group, it’s hard to point to just one game or one moment that sticks out.”

“Looking back on that, that’s got to be one of the turning points of my career. I was a lefty specialist that sophomore year, pretty much for the whole time up until I threw three innings in the playoff at the Regional. That was my longest outing before that. The opportunity that I got against Clemson really changed the path of my career. It’s something I am incredibly grateful for.”

What was it about that team that made it so special?

“The team was tough. It was a group of guys that had a lot of new faces. We had a freshman class coming in that was highly ranked, it was supposed to be pretty good. And the group I came in with as freshmen, we had a year under our belt and we felt like we had underachieved by not advancing out of the Region at ECU. I think there were a lot of guys on that team and even the older guys that just had a chip on their shoulders that knew that we had the chance to be really good. Early in the year, we went back to Greenville and got our butts whooped and we had a team meeting that really made us think about what we were going to be doing. We got beat by Clemson pretty handedly at home, I think it was 19-6 on a Sunday, and we faced some adversity as a team but felt like that was the best thing for us. It made us really come together as a group. We had to focus on the things that were going on in the clubhouse and the dugout and not hear about how good we were and not hear about what we could do, and essentially we were able to come together in those moments and force a toughness that would propel us on to a national championship.”

How exciting was it for you to throw out the first pitch at Founders Park before the Clemson series last month?

“When they told me that that’s how they would be celebrating, I kinda had an idea that would be the game I would get to throw the first pitch out at. I think it’s timely, it’s humorous with how my career kinda changed against Clemson in 2010. It’s really cool. It’s cool to be able to come back to Founders Park with the celebration and 10 years since the first national championship.”

What was your reaction when Ray told you you were going to start and what were your emotions like taking the mound that night against Clemson?

“I thought there must be some miscommunication when they said I was starting … but at that point when you are in the loser’s bracket and you are playing an elimination game, it’s all hands on deck. When you are playing to potentially play the last game of your season and you step out on the field, you know that everybody on the squad has to be ready to play. When it was apparent that I was starting, I didn’t think about really trying to go out there and throw a complete game or even throw a certain number of innings. I just went out there to do my job, like I had been doing all year. It just so happened I was able to put together nine innings. Part of me being able to do that was just the great team we had, the defense we had behind me and the fact that we went out there and scored some runs. If it’s not 5-1, if there’s not a little bit of a lead, I doubt I am going back out there in the eighth or ninth inning.”

The opportunity that I got against Clemson really changed the path of my career.

It’s something I am incredibly grateful for.

MARCH 2020

MICHAEL ROTH 29

How cool was that to start the national championship game and arguably the biggest game in school history?

“It was awesome. Just the opportunity to go out there and throw again, I was throwing on short rest having just started on Friday, and so throwing on three days rest, but with some of the things we were doing to recover and all the hard work we put in during the offseason, and I think me being a reliever helps me be able to come back quicker.

So I was able to be effective in that start. It was a ton of fun, tension was high. I remember a play where Bobby Haney kinda sat back on a ground ball that allowed them to score the first run and we were all kinda amped up about it, but it was a lot of fun. For me, it almost felt like it was two separate games, just in the fact I threw the first five innings and we end up walking off in the 12th.”

UCLA had pitchers Gerrit Cole and Trevor Bauer, who are both now in the big leagues and Cole is the $324 million man for the Yankees.

Do you ever look back and say, ‘Wow, we beat those two guys?’

How much did those two starts in the College World Series set the tone for your phenomenal 2011 season?

“The outings and the success I had in the College World Series definitely gave me a ton of confidence going into 2011. I didn’t know I would open up as the Friday night starter that year. I had a feeling I would be in the mix for starting, but you never know. Each year is different and sometimes what worked the year before doesn’t always work the next year. I had to go out there and earn my spot just like anyone else. But being able to draw on those moments and have that success to look back on and know that you had been in some tough moments gives you the ability to go out in more tough moments and just have fun.”

Hay Hill SERVICES

“That was a pretty good team for UCLA. They had a lot of guys on that team, but at the time we felt like on paper we didn’t add up and I think a lot of people would have argued that as well. But if you look back on our team, we had some pretty good guys as well with Whit [Merrifield] and Jackie [Bradley Jr.] and Christian Walker in the big leagues, Tyler Webb. There are a number of guys that were on that team who had pretty solid careers.”

“I think Gamecock fans will always remember and recognize that 2010 team just from that accomplishment, from being one of the first major-sport national championships that South Carolina has ever won. Just the atmosphere that surrounded that team, the guys that were on that team, the characters that were on that team, I think Gamecock fans will always look back on that team as just a fun team and really a tough team that went out there and played and really played for the Gamecocks as a whole.”

30 MICHAEL ROTH

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How often are you asked about that 2010 world series?

MARCH 2020

You won a national player of the year award that year. Is that one of the biggest individual honors you’ve had?

“I would say so. 2011 was definitely a really good year for me individually and the national of player of the year by one of the publications, I missed out on the Golden Spikes … but it was just a very good year for me individually, and obviously the team winning another national championship was awesome as well.”

What was different about the 2011 team and winning it a second straight time?

“2010 just felt like sort of a surprise. We felt like we were thrilled to be there and we felt like we had the ability to be there, but having never been there before it was just a whole new experience for us. In 2011 I think we were a little more savvy. We knew how good we were but we knew we couldn’t just throw our gloves out on the field and play. But we also knew the ability we had to always come back and win and the toughness that the group of guys had. 2011 was more about protecting our turf. Even still, there were a lot of teams that on paper that the writers and others were saying were better than us and I feel like we still had something to go out there and prove.”

You played professionally and made it to the majors with the Angels and Rangers. What was your pro experience like?

“I was very fortunate to get called up to the big leagues early and realize a dream. The dream of playing professional baseball was something I wanted to do ever since I was a kid, so it was a ton of fun and something I had always looked forward to doing. But it’s also tough. As you get older and that travel hits you harder and harder, it becomes more of a business rather just playing baseball and having fun. But I was super fortunate to play those seven years that I played and had a lot of cool guys and had a lot of fun and was on some really good teams as well.”

You have done some broadcasting for South Carolina games on TV. How much do you enjoy that?

“I think last year I did about five games and I think I’m scheduled for that same amount this year. They asked me to join in on some games that Kip [Bouknight] couldn’t do, so I just kinda signed on and was really excited about doing it. I didn’t know how much I would like it at first and last year was a big learning experience, because you can’t ramble on, you have to get to the point and you have to make your point and make it clear and concise. I reached out to a few people in the industry I know just to get some advice and some feedback. It’s a lot of fun, I enjoy it. It’s a cool way to experience baseball and be on the other side of the game.”

What do you think about the program now and the direction under Coach Kingston?

“I think we have a lot of promise. I think this year is a big year for them. They’ve brought in some older guys because at South Carolina there really is no rebuilding year, you just have to reload and play with the guys you have and Gamecock fans expect you to be successful.

That’s just the way the program was built and designed and that’s the expectation of Gamecock fans. They have a lot of guys that have a lot of talent and ability. Really, it’s up to those guys to come together and make themselves a strong and capable team.”

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MICHAEL ROTH 31

2010 COLLEGE W NUMBERS TO REMEMBER

Carolina became the first team in CWS history to win six straight games to win the national championship.

South Carolina won the 2010 College World Series in the bottom of the 11th inning against UCLA. Scott Wingo scored the winning run on a base hit by Whit Merrifield for a 2-1 victory.

SC went 54-16 on the season, the fourth-most wins in school history. They were 21-9 in the SEC, 30-6 at home and 20-10 vs. Top-25 teams.

Blake Cooper was one of the top starting pitchers in the country, winning 13 games with a 2.76 ERA. His biggest win came in the semifinal game against UCLA, when he held the Bruins to just one run on three hits in eight innings to beat future major leaguer Gerrit Cole.

32 BASEBALL

MARCH 2020

WORLD SERIES Photos by Allen Sharpe

SC beat UCLA in Game 1 of the championship series to come within one game of the national title. The Gamecocks had 14 hits with Evan Marzilli, Jackie Bradley Jr. and Christian Walker collecting two each.

SC beat Coastal Carolina in the Super Regionals when Christian Walker hit a three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning to send the Gamecocks to Omaha.

South Carolina has made 11 College World Series appearances.

10

Matt Price was one of the most dominant closers in the country, collecting 10 saves. Price was 5-1 with a 2.26 ERA and 83 strikeouts in 55.2 innings pitched. He won two games in the CWS, including the national championship game.

.368

Jackie Bradley Jr. led the Gamecocks with a .368 average with 13 home runs and 60 RBI. Bradley had 10 hits, including two home runs, and nine RBI in Omaha to win the CWS Most Outstanding Player award.

MARCH 2020

4-3

SC beat Clemson for the second straight night to eliminate the rival Tigers and advance to the national championship series.

BASEBALL 33

SOFTBALL

STRONG RESPONSE

After a strenuous offseason, Katie Prebble returned as a big contributor for Gamecocks

By Josh Hyber | Staff writer • Photos by Allen Sharpe and SC Athletics

34 KATIE PREBBLE

T

he softball-related portion of Katie Prebble’s exit meeting with Beverly Smith after last season was relatively short and simple.

“Katie, what do you want?” asked Smith, the South Carolina head coach.

“What do you want for yourself for next year?

What do you see for yourself?”

“I want to be a starter,” Prebble, who hit .156 with 13 starts in 57 games, responded.

“I remember, at the end of the season, it really hitting me that I wanted to do so much more for the team and for myself,” Prebble told Spurs & Feathers before the Gamecocks entered SEC play in March.

At the time, the team’s designated player had started all 17 games and had a .289 batting average. Among regular contributors, she was first on the team in home runs (six), RBI (23) and slugging (.711) and third in OPS (1.076).

“Katie Prebble is playing fantastic right now,” Smith said at the time. “You can see her, in-game, making adjustments from at-bat to at-bat. She’s smart, she’s strong and she’s having a lot of fun right now.

“You can just see that every time she steps in the box she’s a threat.”

When Prebble told Smith this past May that she wanted to start, the coach simply said, “OK.” There was no holding her back.

So Prebble went to work.

She interned this past summer at a 301 Strong, a high-end gym near her home in Pomfret, Md. “I was the young intern they made do all the awful workouts,” she said. “Insane workouts. A lot of crazy stuff.”

Like pushing sleds on concrete. “Don’t ever do that,” she advises.

Prebble went from taking classes to teaching them. “We also had Strong Man, which is another branch of heavy lifting,” she said.

“And yeah, they had me doing all their little competitions.”

She returned to South Carolina and aced the team’s preseason fitness tests.

“I think I ran everything in the shortest amount of time that we had groups for,” she said. “I think I was in the ‘fast’ group immediately. That’s when I realized the change, because I could not do that last year.”

On the field, hitting and fielding have become “a lot easier” because she rarely has soreness, aches and pains.

She crushed a home run on opening day and five days later had a five-RBI game that included another home run. Five days later she had another home run in a four-RBI game.

“Katie has been so clutch for us. She has hit balls farther than I have ever seen hit,” Gamecock senior shortstop Kenzi Maguire said. “She always goes up with the intent to do damage. She brings this calm confidence

MARCH 2020

to our lineup and I can’t wait to see how she continues to help us win more games this year.”

On Feb. 21 at Beckham Field Prebble crushed a home run to left field that landed in the middle of the track at Athletic Village. “It’s the longest home run I’ve ever seen live,” Gamecock sports information director Patrick Osborne said.

Though she struggled last season, Prebble’s skill has always been apparent.

She joined the team last season as a transfer from Gardner-Webb, where she was named a third-team All-American by the NFCA. But she knew she could do more.

“I didn’t want to settle for what I had,” Prebble said.

“I could have sat there for

MARCH 2020

four years and done perfectly fine and settled for that. But I didn’t want to. I knew I could do more and accomplish more. Why not go out and try to play at the best level?”

She told her dad in June of 2019 that she wanted to transfer.

His response: “Why not South Carolina?”

So Prebble researched the program, emailed Smith and got a response within 24 hours.

“I was on a plane [for a visit] a couple of days later,” Prebble said.

Though she was overwhelmed at first, she began to fit in with the team’s family-oriented mindset.

“Our program wants so much more than my program freshman year wanted,” Prebble said. “It’s a lot more competition in-house too, which I think is really great, because I think we all grow from it so much.”

But on the field, despite some bright spots — like a pinch-hit home run against Auburn — she struggled.

After her recruiting visit, Prebble had a meniscus “redone” and had a longer recovery than expected. It was also her first major injury. She got down on herself.

“I definitely think that I let that affect me mentally and I also didn’t trust that I had pre-

pared the way I needed to to come back from that as quick as I wanted to,” she said.

“I definitely learned the most in those two months than I’ve learned in my entire life.”

But then came 301 Strong and the resurgence. Then came Smith mentioning Prebble in her preseason news conference as the team’s player to watch.

Now it’s about striving in each area of the team’s four pillars: accountability, grit, intention and perseverance.

She keeps her All-American trophy in a box in her closet at home in Maryland. She’s thankful for that season and had fun during it, but she doesn’t “give life” to it or think about it much.

“I did that and I accomplished that, but it’s not the end road for me,” Prebble said.

“There’s a lot more for me to accomplish.”

She’s glad that will happen at South Carolina.

“I’m still just enjoying the ride and enjoying things as they come,” she said. “And we’re having a lot of fun. It’s hard not to have fun in our dugout. We always have more energy than the other team.

“I’m riding the wave and seeing how things turn out, but I’m having fun.”

KATIE PREBBLE 35

NEWS & NOTES

GAMECOCK NEWS & NOTES EQUESTRIAN

FOOTBALL

No. 3 South Carolina downed No. 5 Georgia, 14-5, on Senior Day at OneWood Farm with the Gamecocks taking three of the four Most Outstanding Player honors.

Former South Carolina head coach Steve Spurrier and former South Carolina tight end Willie Scott will be inducted into the 2020 class of the South Carolina Football Hall of Fame April 2 in Greenville.

Junior Taylor Kellam won her first MOP for horsemanship, while McKenzie Duncan won her third MOP in reining. Senior Madeline Schaefer won her third MOP in fences.

• Schaefer was named SEC and NCEA Fences Rider of the Month for February after going 4-0 with three MOP honors.

She has four MOPs this season and finished the regular season 7-2.

• Junior Tyler Petrie was named SEC Flat Rider of the Month for January, her second Rider of the Month Award this season.

Spurrier, a member of the College Football Hall of Fame, led South Carolina to three straight 11-win seasons and its first SEC East division title. Scott led the Gamecocks in receiving in 1980 with 34 receptions for 469 yards and finished his career in the top 10 on the school’s career reception list. He was a fist-round pick by the Kansas City Chiefs in the 1981 NFL Draft.

BEACH VOLLEYBALL South Carolina upset No. 4 Southern Cal 3-2 in the Hilton Head Island Invitational on Feb. 29. Franky Harrison and Avery Davis clinched the victory with a three-set win in the third pairing.

The Gamecocks also scored two more wins over ranked opponents early in the season, beating No. 14 Long Beach State and No. 10 Stetson.

MEN'S GOLF Former Gamecock All-American Matt NeSmith notched his first career top-10 finish on the PGA Tour when he finished T-6th at the Puerto Rico Open with a 72-hole total of 274 (-14). NeSmith shot under par in every round and finished the tournament with a 66 (-6) and 67 (-5) on Saturday and Sunday.

• South Carolina finished seventh at the 2020 All-American Intercollegiate in its first tournament of the spring. Sophomore Ryan Hall finished T-19th with a 54-hole total of 215 (-1).

Carolina finished ninth in the General Hackler Championship in Myrtle Beach March 10, with Jamie Wilson pacing the Gamecocks with a 54-hole 211 to finish T-6th

36 SC ATHLETICS

SWIMMING & DIVING Anton Down-Jenkins made history at the NCAA Zone B Diving Championships, becoming the first South Carolina diver to win both the three-meter and one-meter competitions to qualify for the NCAA Swimming and Diving Championships.

• Senior Itay Goldfaden also qualified for the NCAA Championships after defending his 100 breaststroke title at the SEC Swimming and Diving Championships with a programrecord 51.35, the third-fastest time in the country this season. Goldfaden became the first back-to-back 100 breaststroke SEC Champion since 2016-17.

Sophomore Lewis Burras also made the NCAA Championships in both the 50 freestyle and the 100 freestyle after finishing third and fourth, respectively, in the two events at the SEC Championships.

• Five members of the women's team also earned invitations to the NCAA Championships — sophomore Hallie Kinsey (200 butterfly), freshman Taylor Steele (100 breaststroke) and seniors Albury Higgs (200 breaststroke), Christina Lappin (100 butterfly) and Emily Cornell (200 freestyle).

The Gamecocks are also eligible to swim in two relays, the 200 freestyle and the 400 medley.

MARCH 2020

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL Ty Harris and Aliya Boston were both named finalists for the John R. Wooden Award, making South Carolina one of two schools with multiple entries on the list. Boston and Harris are also semifinalist for the Citizen Naismith Trophy for Women's Player of the Year, while Harris is a finalist for the Nancy Lieberman Award for the nation’s top point guard.

SOFTBALL Karsen Ochs was named SEC Freshman of the Week on Feb. 24 after posting a 3-0 record highlighted by a complete-game shutout over No. 8 Michigan in just her fourth career appearance. She allowed just four hits over 11 innings during the week.

Boston, a freshman forward, was also named a semifinalist for the Naismith Women’s Defensive Player of the Year award and earned a spot on the Lisa Leslie Award Top 10 List for the best female collegiate centers in the nation.

Harris, a senior guard, was also named to the Wade Watch List for the 2020 Wade Trophy, putting her on all four major national player of the year watch lists.

TRACK & FIELD Stephanie Davis finished second in the 400m at the SEC Indoor Championships to earn second-team All-SEC honors. Davis ran backto-back personal records in the event to climb to No. 5 in program history in the indoor 400m.

The South Carolina men finished 11th in the SEC Championships, while the women finished 12th. Other top finishers included Malik Paul, who finished fourth in the men’s weight throw, and the men’s 4x400m relay team (Arinze Chance, EJ Richardson, Rivaldo Leacock and William Spencer Jr.), which ran a season-best time to finish fourth. Chance also finished seventh in the men’s 400m.

• Shortly after turning pro this spring, former South Carolina star Wadeline Jonathas won her first professional title, winning the USATF National Championship in the 400m. Jonathas, who still trains on campus, set a new world leading time at 51.32. The U.S. indoor championship is the first by a South Carolina track and field athlete since Natasha Hastings captured gold in the 300m in 2015.

MARCH 2020

• Junior pitcher Kelsey Oh will miss the rest of the season after having surgery to repair a Lisfranc foot injury, the team announced March 10.

WOMEN’S GOLF Freshman Pauline Roussin-Bouchard has been named to the 2020 Arnold Palmer Cup Team, a Ryder Cup-style tournament featuring the top men's and women's collegiate golfers. The tournament matches golfers from the United States against a team of international players. Roussin-Bouchard, the No. 1 amateur in the world in Women's Amateur Golf Rankings, will play for the international team.

• No. 5 South Carolina notched its third top-three finish of the season by taking third at the IJGA Collegiate Invitational. RoussinBouchard earned her third top-three finish with a 7-under 209, including a 5-under 67 in the final round.

VOLLEYBALL Junior Mikayla Robinson earned a spot on U.S. Women's Volleyball Collegiate National Team. Robinson made the 28-woman gold roster, which trains July 5-12 in Anaheim, Calif. and will compete side-by-side with the U.S. Women's National Team ahead of the Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

Robinson is coming off a career year for South Carolina, setting personal bests in every major statistic while earning All-SEC and All-Region honors and helping the Gamecocks earn back-to-back 20-win seasons for the first time since 2001-02.

WOMEN’S TENNIS Freshman Emma Shelton was named SEC Freshman of the Week Feb. 26 after collecting the first ranked win of her career by beating No. 13 Oklahoma State's No. 56-ranked Ayumi Miyamoto, 6-4, 7-5. Shelton started the season 11-0 in dual matches and 19-3 overall.

• Mia Horvit was named UTR/ITA National Player of the Week and SEC Player of the Week after going 3-0 in SEC play the week of March 10. Horvit helped her team pick up wins against No. 36 Texas A&M and No. 25 LSU as all three of her victories came against ranked opponents. The No. 30 Gamecocks started the season 4-0 in the SEC.

SC ATHLETICS 37

Trio of improving players should help next season Bill Gunter | Contributing writer

W

hile it was not the year most anticipated for men’s basketball, I believe it was a year of growth for a few players who should have a big impact next season.

The future of sophomore AJ Lawson remains undecided, but the Gamecocks should return two players who saw significant playing time this season along with a transfer who gives them another point guard.

The development of Jermaine Couisnard is the biggest aspect of the team I look forward to watching. We all heard how tough and dynamic Couisnard was in practice last year, and while the year did not get off to the start he expected, it finished with the redshirt-freshman being the undisputed team leader.

Often on game day, I would point out on my radio show that the team would go as Couisnard went because he seemed to have taken ownership of the team.

Combined with his ability to score and involve other players in

38 COLUMN • BILL GUNTER

the offense, he developed into the player you wanted to have the ball in his hands at the end of a game.

The interesting part about Couisnard is that I am not sold on him as a true point guard and he could be better playing off the ball. The addition of transfer Seventh Woods, who practiced with the team this season, should give Couisnard the opportunity to do that and be a more dangerous scorer.

Woods is intriguing himself, as he will instantly bring a lock-down defender and add an element of speed to the team.

The combination of Woods and Couisnard should be one of the better backcourts in the SEC next season.

The third player that developed slightly under the radar is sophomore Keyshawn Bryant. It may seem odd to say “under the radar,” but Bryant never seemed fully healthy until the end of the regular season. It was then that he went on a tear scoring and rebounding and showing his

dynamic ability with monstrous “SportsCenter”-type dunks.

Had Bryant been healthy all year, it is hard to say just how good he would have been or how much of an impact he would have made in early non-conference games. With another full offseason to develop in the weight room and grow under Frank Martin, I envision him taking another step forward.

Those three players, along with the return of junior Justin Minaya, will be vital to the Gamecocks in 2020-21. The development of Jair Bolden, Jalyn McCreary, Wildens Leveque and Alanzo Frink will be important as well.

With those players returning, a solid foundation finally appears to be in place for Martin.

While the results the first eight years have been up and down, the Gamecock program was never going to be a quick rebuild and instantly become a contender. It was always going to be a gradual

process that would require patience from the fan base.

With winning seasons in conference play four of the past five seasons and what appears to be a veteran team returning, the Gamecocks should be poised to build on that foundation and continue to take steps to become a consistent NCAA Tournament team.

Every team needs experienced leaders and with the trio of Couisnard, Woods and Bryant, the Gamecock program should continue its upward trajectory next season.

Bill Gunter is the co-host of the Early Game on 107.5 The Game in Columbia.

Follow him on Twitter @WillGunter.

MARCH 2020

No one will miss NCAA experience more than South Carolina, FAMS

By Josh Hyber | Staff writer

T

GAMECOCK MARKETPLACE

here were no buzzer beaters, 12-over5 upsets or doubledigit Cinderellas advancing to the Elite Eight this year. No Sister Jean or UMBC knocking off Virginia.

In 2020 there was not even one singular shining moment. Not even one bounce of a basketball.

Before Selection Sunday, it had already been the maddest March of them all.

On March 12, the men’s and women’s NCAA basketball tournaments were canceled because of concerns over the COVID-19 Coronavirus.

No team likely felt more disappointment from the startling development than South Carolina, which was slated to enter the women’s tournament as the top national seed and favorite to win a second national championship.

MARCH 2020

"As competitors, we are certainly disappointed,” head coach Dawn Staley said. “That said, it will not diminish the way we look at our season, how we value our body of work over the last four months. We have measured ourselves against the best in the country over that time and will embrace and relish that accomplishment.”

"For our seniors and the others throughout the country who will not have the chance to finish their careers the way they expected to, that's a tougher, more emotional thing to process.”

“My heart is super heavy knowing that I will no longer sign another autograph or take another picture as a Gamecock,” senior Ty Harris tweeted. “I will no longer step on CLA’s court and play with my sisters. These four years have flown & I’m forever thankful for the love that the FAMS show me. Thank U”

The Gamecocks were backed this season — and for the past several years —by its rabid FAMbase, which would have followed them through the NCAA Tournament.

South Carolina was 32-1, winning by an average 26.2 points per game entering the big dance. It was 11-1 against ranked teams. Because of its No. 1 seed, it would have likely played two home games to start the tournament and then advance to the Sweet 16 and Elite Eight games in Greenville, S.C. — 103 miles from its home in Columbia — where it just had a brilliant turnout for the SEC Tournament.

Staley said after the team’s tournament win that its fans worked “equally as hard.”

“Coming into this building, all weekend long, spending their hard-earned money. I hope it’s worth it. I hope whatever they had to dish out was worth it with the excitement they brought in the building,” she said.

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“They allowed us to win this championship.”

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A lot, according to players.

“I mean, they basically took over the whole arena,” Mikiah Herbert Harrigan said at the SEC Tournament. “The energy they provide for us, it’s good, and we love it.”

While health and safety are of utmost importance, it’s a shame South Carolina players and fans couldn’t experience March — and April — in all its glory.

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