South Carolina Basketball: 5 March Madness storylines to watch for the Gamecocks
By Kevin Miller
South Carolina Basketball's 5 March Madness Storylines
The last time in March...
The most obvious talking point for the Gamecocks will be centered around what happened the last time USC was playing this late into the year. After the 2016-2017 season, South Carolina basketball made the only Final Four in program history when Sindarius Thornwell, PJ Dozier, Duane Notice, Chris Silva, Maik Kotsar, and Justin McKie headlined the most famous team in Carolina history.
On that magical run, the Gamecocks smacked around historical programs like Marquette, Duke, Baylor, and Florida before the flu played a role in them losing by just one possession to the Gonzaga Bulldogs in the Final Four.
The Gamecocks have leaned into the storyline. The social media team has posted numerous callbacks to the 2016-2017 team and even had PJ Dozier and Sindarius Thornwell narrate a pre-NCAA Tournament hype video.
The 2023-2024 team is very different from the Thornwell-led squad, but some similarities could play out this March. Veterans (especially on the perimeter) will be key to the team's success as Ta'Lon Cooper and Meechie Johnson are 5th and 4th-year players, respectively. Defensive intensity and physicality also marked both teams, and if shots fall for this year's team like they did in March of 2017, something special could be brewing.