The state of South Carolina had never produced a team that reached the Final Four.
That was before the Gamecocks upset a No. 2, a No. 3 and a No. 4 seed this March.
Long considered an afterthought in the world of college basketball, South Carolina college hoops have traditionally lingered in the shadow of the basketball-rich kingdom to the north. The "other Carolina" has sent five programs for a combined 41 trips to the Final Four.
Much has been made of South Carolina head coach Frank Martin's emotions during the Gamecocks' tournament run.
Following South Carolina's 77-73 loss to Gonzaga, Martin appeared ready to shelve those often over-analyzed feelings, at least publicly. Answering questions about the final minutes and plays of the game, Martin looked down and issued monotone responses.
Frank Martin has been called a lot of things, but probably never robotic.
Then he was asked about the legacy of his players, his seniors in particular.
Martin was visibly overcome with emotions. The 51-year-old coach took several seconds to formulate an answer, and it seemed like much, much longer. He was eventually moved to tears.
"There's something powerful when you impact others," Martin said. "And what these kids have done is pretty special. When you get people to travel across the country by the masses because they believe in what you do, that's powerful stuff."
The average roundtrip out of Columbia or Charlotte to attend the Final Four in Phoenix cost between $900 to $1700.
"These kids are great role models," Martin said. "There's a lot of young kids that want to be the next Sindarius Thornwell, Justin McKie. I don't get to coach them anymore, but they're a part of my life forever."
"We believed in Coach from day one, from the day he stepped in my house and recruited me, we all believed him," Thornwell said. "We appreciate everybody, all the fans, Gamecock Nation, for all the support that was with us for those four years."
"I think we made a big impact on our community, a big impact on people that never saw us," freshman guard Rakym Felder said.
There is a great deal of elite talent currently residing the state's high school ranks. Zion Williamson of Spartanburg, South Carolina, is the No. 2 prospect in the class of 2018. There are two prospects from Columbia ranked in the top 20 by ESPN for 2019.
The Gamecocks' deep tournament run could make that caliber of talent think twice before flocking out of the state.
"We figured out a way to get off our backs and get back up and fight to the end," Martin said. "And that's why I'm so proud of these guys and what they've built and how hard they fought to get a lot of people to smile, a lot of people to care."