South Carolina Gamecocks News: Updates from football, basketball, baseball, NCAA Tournament elimination, and more

The latest South Carolina Gamecocks news from the last week in Columbia, starting with some updates from the football program's recruiting efforts.

A huge recruiting weekend saw a long list of talented players from the 2025 and 2026 recruiting classes on campus in Columbia, and though news will start to come out regarding the big weekend, there was some other news in the days leading up to the big visit weekend.

JaDon Blair, a 4-star safety in the '25 cycle, officially put the Gamecocks in his top-5 and announced a commitment date of July 5th. Blair was one of the players visiting this weekend.

2025 offensive lineman Taren "TJ" Hedrick put Carolina in his top-10.

4-star defensive back Jontae Gilbert announced his top-7 (again), and South Carolina football made the cut.

Gamecock commitment Damarcus Leach (class of 2025 safety) was bumped up to 4-star status by ESPN.

In-state '25 offensive line target Shed Sarratt received his 4th star from 247Sports.

The Gamecocks learned the kickoff times and broadcast information for the first three games of the 2024 season.

USC will open the season at home on August 31st against the Old Dominion Monarchs at 4:15 PM ET on SEC Network and the ESPN app.

The Gamecocks will play September 7th on the road against the Kentucky Wildcats at 3:30 PM ET on ABC and the ESPN app.

The LSU Tigers will come to Williams-Brice Stadium on September 14th for a Noon ET kickoff. The game will be broadcast on ABC and streamed on the ESPN app.

South Carolina basketball coach Lamont Paris still has one roster spot to fill and a coaching vacancy on his staff.

The Gamecocks ended their recruitment of class of 2024 stretch big Jamie Vinson. It is unclear if USC intends to take another high school prospect to fill out the roster or if a transfer portal addition is more likely.

Gamecock assistant Tim Buckley left the program to take an assistant job with the Cincinnati Bearcats.

The Gamecocks also added a big-time road game to the 2024-2025 schedule.

South Carolina basketball will travel to Bloomington, Indiana this season. On November 16th, the Assembly Hall crowd will welcome the Gamecocks for one of the top out-of-conference games on the USC schedule.

Dawn Staley's team added a new face to the roster.

Elite transfer portal big Maryam Dauda is now a Gamecock. The versatile post player can play power forward and center, can shoot the ball from outside, and has enough defensive versatility to protect the rim or chase around all but the quickest guards.

Speaking of Coach Staley...

Dawn Staley was on the cover of SLAM Magazine, making her the first active coach to grace the cover as a solo feature. Staley had previously shared a cover with former Gamecocks Destanni Henderson, Zia Cooke, and Aliyah Boston.

Aliyah Boston received a special exclusive over the weekend.

The former National Player of the Year is getting an exclusive shoe from Adidas. She is joining A'ja Wilson (the A'One shoe from Nike is coming in 2025) as recent shoe deal announcements for Gamecock legends.

A'ja Wilson made WNBA history.

She became the first player in league history ever to record five 20-and-10 (points and rebounds) games in a row, doing so in the season's first five contests.

South Carolina baseball didn't have a good showing in the NCAA Tournament, and their 2024 season is over.

After having to come from behind and overcome a putrid defensive day to beat 3-seed James Madison in their first game of the Raleigh Regional on Friday, the Gamecocks lost to host NC State and JMU on Friday and Saturday, ending the season and, possibly, ending the Mark Kingston era as the head coach of the South Carolina baseball program.

Ethan Petry, Cole Messina, and Dylan Brewer made the All-Regional Team.

A trio of South Carolina pitchers entered the transfer portal and left the team ahead of the NCAA Tournament.

Jackson Phipps, Austin Williamson, and Jevarra Martin are no longer with the program. None of the three were used much this year despite the team's struggles on the mound and both Williamson and Martin being considered talented pitchers.