The Daily Gamecock

Issue date: 2/25/08 Section: Sports

Alex Riley, Fourth-year print journalism student

It was almost perfect.

But almost only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades.

Last weekend, it was the magic of Devan Downey's fade-away bomb against Alabama that helped cap the return of John Roche to Columbia.

This time, it just wasn't meant to be.

A late foul by Evka Baniulis allowed Mississippi State to tie the game and push it into overtime, as Carolina would fall 61-56.

But aside from all that, the 15,000-plus people sitting in the stands got a chance to see the best of the best with the reunion weekend celebration.

Over 130 former players, coaches and staff members returned to the Colonial Center floor Saturday evening as the Gamecock basketball program hosted its centennial birthday celebration. The halftime program brought back many familiar faces of basketball days gone by at Carolina, including Brian Winters, Jo Jo English, Eddie Fogler and many, many more.

The video board featured a "tribute" to coach Frank McGuire and messages from players like Kevin Joyce and Roche, who couldn't make it back, as well as 1933 team captain Buck Smith, who led USC to its first championship season on the hardwood.

While the crowd roared at the announcing of the different names during the festivities, the real fun occurred earlier in the day when the Colonial Center floor made room for the old-timers game.

A small but intrigued crowd of about 2,000 people gathered to watch former players lace their shoes and play for the garnet and black once more. Plenty of recent alums were ready to go, including Aaron Lucas, Jamel Bradley and John Chappell. But the game also featured guys like Terry Dozier and Jim Graziano and even Fieldhouse legend Ronnie Collins.

Both teams took the game as the chance to have fun, and that they did. Missed shots were aplenty and there was even a fake fight after a foul. Lucas actually took a seat in the crowd as he fell out of bounds. But one thing was clear- everyone had a great time.

Fans, players and coaches cheered, laughed and soaked up the environment surrounding the big weekend. Autograph signings, hearing old stories and enjoying being around the fans and their friends again helped bring a warm feeling to the program that not even a heartbreaking loss like that could take away.

But most importantly, the weekend was a big step in bridging the gap between the former players and current program at USC. While it won't instantly fix all the problems that have been created by apathetic feelings over time, it is a big step in bringing things back together.

Coach Dave Odom said in his postgame conference that the only thing that would have made things perfect would have been for USC to win. But even he was happy to say that even a loss could not take away from the good feelings of the weekend.

Hopefully that's all true and the benefits will be seen for years to come.

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