South Carolina Gamecocks News: SEC Tournament, Football, Baseball, Softball, More

South Carolina Football helmet. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
South Carolina Football helmet. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports
South Carolina Football
South Carolina Football helmet. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-USA TODAY Sports

Here is the South Carolina Gamecocks News from a busy week, starting with the South Carolina basketball team readying themselves for the SEC Tournament.

The South Carolina women’s basketball team received a double bye in the SEC Tournament, automatically advancing to the tournament’s quarterfinal round. The Gamecocks will face off against Arkansas on Friday at noon.

The SEC handed out their postseason awards for women’s basketball, and the Gamecocks cleaned up.

The Gamecocks were all over the press release for SEC postseason awards. Dawn Staley was selected as SEC Coach of the Year, Aliyah Boston won Player of the Year and Defensive Player of the Year, and Kamilla Cardoso was chosen as the Sixth Woman of the Year. Aliyah Boston and Zia Cooke were placed on the All-SEC first-team, Kamilla Cardoso was chosen for the second-team, and Raven Johnson was voted onto the conference’s Freshman All-SEC team. Brea Beal joined Aliyah Boston on the Defensive All-SEC squad.

The South Carolina football team had its first media availability for its transfer portal additions.

The transfers spoke to the media for the first time. Nick Gargiulo confirmed that he was working at center (and a little bit at guard), and the transfer tight ends (Trey Knox, Joshua Simon, and Nick Elksnis) all believe there is a role for each of them in the offense.

Shane Beamer spoke at this press conference as well.

Beamer updated the status of the three suspended freshmen (Monteque Rhames, Cameron Upshaw, and Anthony Rose). The update is that there is no update. The three freshmen remain suspended and have no timeline for any potential return.

He also announced that defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway and offensive tackle Cason Henry will miss the spring after minor surgical procedures. David Spaulding, Mo Kaba, and Jordan Strachan are back after more serious injuries but will be limited through spring.

Several off-the-field football staffers have left the program in recent days, and a former Gamecock coordinator got a new gig.

Director of Football Nutrition Kristin Coggin has left for a similar position at Nebraska, Offensive Analyst Freddie Kitchens has taken the Tight Ends Coach job at North Carolina, Defensive Analyst Devonte Holloman has returned to coaching as the head man at Pinewood Prep in Summerville, Offensive Analyst Nick Coleman has taken the Quarterbacks Coach role at UAB, and Special Teams Analyst Stanton Weber finalized a deal to become the Special Teams Coordinator at Toledo.

Former Gamecock Defensive Coordinator Charlie Strong also took a job as an analyst working on Nick Saban’s staff at Alabama.

The Spring Game, Spring Practice, and South Carolina’s Pro Day were all announced.

Spring Practice will begin on March 14th, and the Spring Game will again be under the lights as it is scheduled for 7:00 PM on April 15th. It is expected to be aired on the SECNetwork and the ESPN App.

South Carolina’s Pro Day will take place on March 13th and will include the five players invited to the NFL Scouting Combine (Cam Smith, Darius Rush, Zacch Pickens, Jovaughn Gwyn, and Jalen Brooks) and eight other seniors (Dylan Wonnum, Josh Vann, Eric Douglas, Sherrod Greene, Brad Johnson, Devonni Reed, Nate Adkins, and Christian Beal-Smith).

The NFL Scouting Combine has begun. Defensive linemen (like former Gamecock Zacch Pickens) have started competing. The other position groups will begin over the weekend.

Zacch Pickens was highlighted as a top performer for interior defensive linemen. As of Friday morning, he had the longest broad jump (9 feet, 8 inches), the 6th-best 40-yard dash (4.89 seconds), the 4th-quickest short shuttle cone drill (7.45 seconds), and the 4th-highest vertical leap (30.5 inches). He also had the third-longest wingspan. Jacob Infante has been an NFL Draft analyst for years and chose Pickens as one of his top overall defensive linemen performers.

South Carolina men’s basketball lost again at Mississippi State.

In an effort that was much closer than their weekend loss at Tennessee, Lamont Paris’ group lost a tight game in Starkville on Tuesday. GG Jackson played well offensively, but the Gamecocks couldn’t get it done down the stretch in the loss to the Bulldogs.

The baseball team remains undefeated heading into the weekend rivalry series with Clemson.

The Gamecocks beat North Carolina A&T on Tuesday after an offensive explosion late in the game. Clemson, meanwhile, lost to USC Upstate. The rivalry series will begin in Clemson on Friday, move to Greenville on Saturday, and the series finale will take place in Columbia on Sunday.

Two Gamecock baseball players received national awards for their performances last weekend.

Collegiate Baseball named freshman Ethan Petry as one of their national players of the week, and senior Noah Hall was named Perfect Game USA’s national pitcher of the week. Hall was also named SEC Co-Pitcher of the Week.

The softball team keeps up their good work.

The ladies of the diamond continue playing well. They have pushed their record to 15-2 this week and will play four more contests this weekend against Columbia, Illinois, North Carolina A&T, and UNC-Wilmington.