South Carolina basketball has had an up-and-down history. “The three Franks” (McGuire, Martin, and Johnson) led the Gamecocks to some of its best stretches of basketball in program history, and coaches like Eddie Fogler, Dave Odom, and George Felton had some good moments, as well.
However, when Carolina basketball has been bad, it has been very bad. The Gamecocks have put together some real clunkers some seasons, and a handful of coaches have contributed more to the losing times than the other Gamecock headmen. But which of these coaches was the worst to ever lead the South Carolina basketball program?
Honorable Mention
Walter Hambrick: Walter Hambrick (1958-1959) led South Carolina basketball through one of its worst season’s in program history. The Gamecocks went 4-20 and only won 2 games in the ACC despite having two of the program’s greatest players ever (guard “Cookie” Ray Percicola and center Mike Callahan) playing at a high level.
JH Brown, FE Scofield, LW Hill, Charles Farrell, Sol Metzger, Lana Sims, and Dick Anderson: JH Brown (1908-1909), FE Scofield (1909-1910), LW Hill (1914-1915), Charles Farrell (1915-1916), Sol Metzger (1920-1921), Lana Sims (1921-1922), Burnett Stoney (1927-1928) and Dick Anderson (1945-1946) all coached the Gamecocks for one season during or before World War II. All eight of these men led South Carolina basketball to losing records in their one season.
James Driver, Jack Crawford, and Chuck Noe: Two seasons each and a losing record was all that James Driver (1911-1913), Jack Crawford (1922-1924), and Chuck Noe (1962-1964) have to show for their efforts as the head coach at South Carolina. Noe was the creator of the 4-corners offense (made famous by Dean Smith at North Carolina).
Thankfully, after Chuck Noe was fired midseason in 1964, the Gamecocks eventually hired Frank McGuire to lead the program the following season.