Heading into the 2016-17 season, South Carolina senior guard Sindarius Thornwell noted how much he was looking forward to playing at the “Mecca of Basketball.” When the Gamecocks took the floor at Madison Square Garden in December against Seton Hall, Sindarius Thornwell was there — on the bench.
Thornwell traveled with the team to the Big Apple, but he was serving what would turn out to be a six-game suspension for a still undisclosed violation of team rules. South Carolina suffered its first loss of the season that night against the Pirates, while Thornwell could simply watch his teammates play in the arena he had always dreamed of playing in.
“When we played there earlier in the season it killed me,” Thornwell said Tuesday. “When we had shootaround that day, that was like my game. I got to shoot and play, I was like a kid on the court. I was just excited to be there and be on the court.”
The SEC Player of the Year will get to live his dream Friday, as the Gamecocks earned a return trip to the Garden with wins over Marquette and Duke to reach the Sweet 16.
“God rewards people, not who’s perfect, but who handle their business the right way, and he’s handled his business the right way,” head coach Frank Martin said Tuesday. “And guess what? Now he gets an opportunity to play in the place that he always wanted to play at. That obviously I didn't allow him to play at last time. And he gets to play at it in the biggest stage of them all.”
Thornwell will get his shot at redemption Friday against Baylor as South Carolina looks to move on to the Elite Eight Sunday, but there’s no doubt he paid his dues — not only this season or just during the suspension, but throughout his four-year career.
A top-40 recruit when he left Lancaster, South Carolina, Thornwell joined the Gamecocks after Martin’s first year, when the team won just four conference games on the way to a 14-18 season. The team went a combined 11-21 in SEC play over the next two seasons, making slow but steady improvements as Martin found players like Thornwell who bought into his program.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta work through failure. That’s why those seniors came here and they failed. I failed. We failed,” Martin said. “But none of us ever blamed each other. On the contrary, we just showed up the next day.”
There was less failure during Thornwell’s junior season, as he started every game during the Gamecocks record-setting 25-win campaign. However, missing the NCAA Tournament left a bitter taste in his mouth and made him even hungrier to make the Big Dance as a senior.
“The goal remains the same,” Thornwell said in a September interview. “Make the tournament.”
Now that Thornwell and South Carolina are here, having won a tournament game for the first time in 44 years and reaching the first Sweet 16 in program history, they aren’t looking to go away any time soon. In the locker room following the second round upset of Duke, an emotional Martin made it clear to his team that he has confidence the Gamecocks can win it all.
“I wanted those kids to believe that they’ve earned the right to go to the Sweet 16. That means you’re good enough to play anyone in the country,” Martin said of his comments after the win over Duke. “That’s been my goal since day one here.”
Thornwell has approached the postseason with a “why not us” mentality, believing that his team is still standing, therefore the Gamecocks have the same opportunity as anyone else.
“We’ve overcome all the obstacles that was put in front of us for us not to be here,” Thornwell said. “So why not go out and try to win it all? They put us here and gave us a chance, so why not go win it?”
Throughout the season, Thornwell’s other motto has been “secure the bag,” which he admits he got from a song. However, the phrase doesn’t just refer to money, he says, as it reminds him to maximize every opportunity, such as his chance to live out his dream at the Garden.
“Whatever your opportunity is and that you’re blessed to be given, just take advantage of it,” Thornwell said. “We just try to take advantage of every opportunity.”