South Carolina Basketball: East Carolina lied, paid Spencer Rattler for a video; Gamecocks still won

Some South Carolina basketball fans were surprised to see a familiar face in Greenville, North Carolina prior to the Gamecocks’ road contest against East Carolina.

Someone from ECU arranged to get a video of South Carolina football quarterback Spencer Rattler wishing the Pirates luck, encouraging them with some advice and an “I’m pulling for you…to get this dub” message. The East Carolina media team played the video as the Gamecocks took the court for pregame.

It didn’t take long for some parts of the story to come out.

Rattler, who has an account on the website Cameo, was paid by someone at ECU to record an encouraging message for a basketball team called “the Pirates.” A funny, well-played prank by the East Carolina Pirates, right?

Well, after the final buzzer sounded and the South Carolina basketball team came out on top, the Gamecock social media team and Spencer Rattler delivered a message to East Carolina along with the rest of the story.

Not only did someone from ECU pay Rattler for the video (obviously without sharing the detail that the Pirates were going to use the video before playing the Gamecocks), but Rattler claims that whoever contacted him for the video lied, saying that they were a high school team that just needed a little bit of encouragement from a big-name athlete like Rattler.

An embarrassing ploy by East Carolina was compounded by the loss as the Gamecocks overcame horrendous officiating to win the physical road contest 68-62.

Last week, Spencer Rattler officially declared for the 2024 NFL Draft and is expected to be taken in the top-half of the draft. Along with wide receiver Xavier Legette, South Carolina football is expected to have two players taken in the top-half of the draft, while East Carolina has only had two such picks in the last 13 NFL drafts combined.