South Carolina Gamecocks News: Stadium Project, Texas and Oklahoma, NFL Combine, Basketball Updates, Preseason Baseball Awards, and More
By Kevin Miller
Here’s the South Carolina Gamecocks news from a busy week, starting with the Stadium Project.
Earlier this week, spokesmen from the University of South Carolina announced that the school was in the early planning stages of a $1 Billion Stadium Project to renovate and develop Williams-Brice Stadium, Colonial Life Arena, and the surrounding areas. With over 800 acres of previously-purchased land, the preliminary plan seems to be to use private funding to develop revenue-generating businesses and attractions to fund future athletic department projects.
Texas and Oklahoma will join the SEC sooner than expected.
In 2021, when the University of Texas and Oklahoma University pledged to leave the Big-12 and join the SEC, 2025 was the target date. However, due to some negotiating with both conferences, the storied athletic departments will join the SEC a year earlier in 2024. Conference realignment and schedule changes are expected with the new additions to the league, but nothing definitive has been announced.
The SEC announced 2021-2022 revenue sharing.
On Thursday, SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced that $721.8 Million would be split up between the fourteen schools in the conference. $23.3 Million of that number would be retained by the athletic departments of the teams who participated in bowl games during the 2021-2022 football season. The remaining money was distributed evenly, resulting in a just-under $50 Million payment per school.
Five South Carolina football players received NFL Scouting Combine invitations.
Cam Smith, Darius Rush, Zacch Pickens, Jovaughn Gwyn, and Jalen Brooks will have the opportunity to help their draft stock by participating in the Indianapolis event. The Combine features physical and mental testing that includes measurements, the 40-yard dash, 225-pound bench press, team interviews, the Wonderlic Test, and more. 319 total players were invited to the Combine this year.
South Carolina basketball lost a hard-fought road battle in Columbia, Missouri on Tuesday.
Star freshman GG Jackson did not start against the Tigers after making public criticisms on Instagram of coaching decisions against Arkansas. When he did play, he performed as well as he has in any game all season. The rest of the team fought hard and kept things close until the very end. A shooting drought to close the game doomed the CourtCocks, and Missouri pulled away to a 74-83 victory.
Former Gamecock standout Tre Kelley will be honored by the SEC as South Carolina’s 2023 inductee into the SEC Basketball Legends group.
Each season since 1999, every team in the SEC has had one player selected to be honored as an SEC Legend. Kelley, one of the best players in South Carolina history, will be the 2023 choice. Joining names like Alex English and Carey Rich, Kelley will be honored during halftime of the Gamecocks’ first SEC Tournament game in March.
Women’s basketball remained undefeated.
On the road at Auburn, the Lady Gamecocks crushed the Tigers. Holding the home team to 15 points or less in all four quarters, South Carolina was able to play 11 different players for at least nine minutes each during the contest. Aliyah Boston and company outrebounded Auburn by 24 and outshot the Tigers by a mark of almost 20 percentage points. Dawn Staley’s team will face fellow undefeated LSU this weekend in what could be the game of the year in women’s college basketball.
Speaking of women’s basketball, Dawn Staley is done playing nice.
Staley and her team have faced undue criticism for years, and the best coach in the country is “sick of it.” After UConn Head Coach Geno Auriemma accused South Carolina of playing a game that was “not basketball,” Staley took up for her team in a heated press conference.
South Carolina baseball was shutout of the preseason SEC awards.
After being voted by SEC coaches to finish middle-of-the-pack in the conference (4th in the East, 8th overall), the Gamecocks also did not have a single player selected as a first-team or second-team preseason All-SEC performer. Likely first-round pick Will Sanders is the most obvious snub, but the Gamecocks feel as if they will prove these coaches by the end of the year and have multiple players play their way to postseason accolades.