South Carolina Gamecocks News: Baseball keeps winning, basketball awards, football recruiting, more
By Kevin Miller
Here is the latest South Carolina Gamecocks news from the weekend, starting with the baseball team’s continued success.
The South Carolina baseball teams went on the road and won another SEC series. Taking on the 2021 national champion Mississippi State Bulldogs, Carolina won two of three games. Will Sanders was removed from his role as the ace of the staff amid some early season struggles but is expected to be a factor in future weekends.
The Gamecocks won games 1 and 3 of the series and moved their record to 26-3 overall and 8-1 in the SEC.
The South Carolina basketball team’s undefeated season and quest for back-to-back championships ended at the hands of Caitlin Clark and Iowa.
The Gamecocks lost a tight game to the Hawkeyes. Early foul trouble for Aliyah Boston and the overall brilliance of Clark were the primary factors. South Carolina’s lack of outside shooting was a detriment, but the Gamecocks still had the game within one possession with a minute remaining but couldn’t pull off the victory.
Guard Zia Cooke was named to the NCAA Tournament’s All-Tournament team.
Speaking of Cooke…
Zia Cooke was selected as the Ann Meyers Drysdale Shooting Guard of the Year. Aliyah Boston was honored as the Lisa Leslie Center of the Year. It was Boston’s fourth time winning the award. She is the only 4-time winner of any of women’s college basketball’s positional awards.
Speaking of Boston…
The dominant post player has made her WNBA Draft decision. #4 will forego her final year of eligibility and enter the WNBA Draft. The decision makes sense as Boston is expected to be the top selection in April’s draft. The Indiana Fever own the top pick, and if selected by the Fever, Boston would reunite with former teammate and national championship-winning point guard Destanni Henderson.
After beating the Tigers this fall, the South Carolina football team beat Clemson again on Friday.
The Gamecocks received a verbal commitment from Greenville High School offensive lineman Blake Franks. Franks plays tackle for his team but seems to project best as an interior lineman in college. He is a 4-star recruit according to Rivals.com and is rated as a high 3-star recruit by on3 and 247Sports. He chose the Gamecocks over the Tigers and also boasted offers from Alabama, Auburn, North Carolina, Florida, Florida State, Penn State, and others.
A Gamecock senior was named to the Walter Camp preseason All-American Team.
Punter Kai Kroeger received the honor of being named a first-team preseason All-American. Kroeger is expected to continue his reign as the best punter in college football. Hopefully, whoever votes for the Ray Guy Award will pay attention better in 2023 than they did in 2022 when Kroeger was robbed of even being a finalist for the award despite dominating all season.
An incoming freshman received a shoutout from a national analyst.
5-star incoming freshman Nyckoles Harbor was named a “Freshman to Watch” by The Late Kick’s Josh Pate. Harbor is expected to play a role as a wide receiver and special teams player early in his career but may also see some situational duty as a pass rusher. He will also run track at South Carolina and has realistic dreams of competing in the Olympics.
The softball team bounced back in a big way this weekend.
After scuffling a bit the last two weeks or so, the softball team took a series from #11 Florida over the weekend. The Gamecocks utilized a huge rally late to win game 1 and shut out the Gators in game 3. They improved their record to 26-9 on the season.
South Carolina’s men’s tennis team continues their strong season.
The Gamecocks beat another ranked opponent this weekend when they traveled to Oxford and took down Ole Miss. They’ve now lost just twice since February 17th and will likely be back in the top-5 next week.