Each year, South Carolina fans make their way to the Columbia area to support USC's teams. Ranging from local residents, students and alumni to pack out venues such as Williams-Brice Stadium and Colonial Life Arena and create distinct atmospheres for the Gamecocks.
In the last 15 years, fans have seen the Gamecocks win back-to-back College World Series Championships, five straight Final Fours in women’s basketball, a men's basketball Final Four in 2017 and dozens of wins against instate rival Clemson.
While Gamecock fans have enjoyed these memorable moments, its teams, athletes and coaches work to support the community that supports them, through hosting team camps, setting up scholarship funds, volunteering at local hospitals and honoring members of the community.
Team Efforts
Several Gamecock teams have different ways that they give back to the Columbia area.
South Carolina's baseball team holds a Salute to Service during the Sunday game of home baseball series. During the game, a member of the military is honored by the team, with each team member shaking the members hand.
The first Salute to Service of the season was on Feb. 16, against Sacred Heart.
"That's why we wear our camo hats and shirts today. It's our way of letting the military know we're thinking of them,” head coach Paul Maineri said after the Sacred Heart game.
Though the tradition may be new, players have already taken kindly to the event. Sophomore catcher Ryan Bakes, whose grandfather served in the military, believes that the tradition should spread to other sports.
“It's really cool, bring awareness to it,” Bakes said. “I think we should keep doing it, it should be a tradition from here and the rest of Carolina so I like it a lot.”
One player who has taken the military appreciation to another level is sophomore pitcher Jake McCoy. After every strikeout, McCoy gives $23, the number he wears, to Purple Heart Homes, an organization designated to provide housing solutions to veterans.
“I just really thought it's a good way to give back,” McCoy said. “I'm just excited to see where this is going to go from here.”
Maineri said community service has always been important to him. While he coached at LSU, his team logged nearly 400 hours of community service each year.
The Tigers participate in events like the Buddy Walk, a walk designed to raise awareness for inclusion for people with Down syndrome.
The women's soccer team is another program that has several ways to help serve the community. The team hosts multiple camps throughout the year while also volunteering at local schools, according to freshman forward Katie Shae Collins.
“I think it's awesome because it just brings so much joy to them, but it also brings just as much or maybe more joy to us,” Collins said.
On March 26, the team hosted its 17th annual fan appreciation clinic, a free youth event for girls of all skill levels, designed to thank the fans for all their support throughout the season.
“When we started, we wanted to give thanks,” head coach Shelly Smith said. “We have so many great fans and kids that come to camp in the summer. They come out in the fall and cheer us on. It's a really special bond, and we love giving back to the community.”
During the camp, members of the team helped out with different drills and got to know the girls on a personal level.
“I think one of the best parts is that we get to meet girls when they're 5 or 6 years old,” Collins said. “And then throughout the years that we're in college, we just see them grow up and also grow up not only as better players, but also better people.”
Athletes going beyond the field
Taylor Fox was a goalkeeper of the women's soccer team from 2020 to 2024, and saw her community engagement efforts recognized by the SEC, as she was named to the 2024 SEC Soccer Community Service team.
While at South Carolina, Fox served as the Vice President for the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. Fox also served as the Captain of the Dream On 3, a non-profit organization helping kids with life-altering conditions achieve their sports dreams.
“She went above and beyond as an athlete to give and be a leader, and she was wonderful in our team, a tremendous teammate,” Smith said. “It definitely means a lot to see a player like her reach out and give and represent our entire program and this university so well.”
Fox is not the only Gamecock to go beyond the field to make a difference. Spencer Eason-Riddle, a linebacker for the football team from 2016 to 2021, served the Columbia area in a variety of ways like volunteering at local hospitals and organizing a shoe drive in 2021.
Eason-Riddle walked onto the football team in 2016. Due to him not being on scholarship, he felt like he needed to find something to do outside of football in order to help his parents out with the cost of school.
"For me being a walk on and knowing I needed to do something else outside of school and football," Eason-Riddle said. "At least go help in the community. I feel like I really needed to serve."
He eventually began to volunteer at the Veteran Affair hospital, helping out with veterans who had sustained injuries. After that he began working with the South Carolina Oncology Association to help cancer patients.
In 2019, Eason-Riddle created the Sandstorm Buddies Program, a program that paired student athletes with kids at Prisma Health Children's Hospital, where Eason-Riddle wanted to connect with the community at a more frequent rate than the university provided.
“I just kind of put it upon myself, I know a lot of athletes like to work with kids and like to work at the Children's Hospital every now and then,” Eason-Riddle said. “And so I thought, 'I'm gonna go over there, try to set up a program, see what we can do.'”
Eason-Riddle received a football scholarship in 2019 and graduated in 2021. By the time he graduated, he had received several awards dealing with community service, including five selections to the SEC Community Service Team.
The Sandstorm Buddies program is still around, but focuses more on athletes sending the hospital cards for holidays such as Valentine's Day and Christmas due to Covid-19 pandemic, Eason-Riddle said.
“It definitely warms my heart to create something that has a lasting legacy there is really important and something that's more than sports, but about serving the community,” Eason-Riddle said. “For South Carolina athletes to have a connection to the community, especially with people who really look up to us.”
Eason-Riddle is just one example that while at the university, student-athletes can make an impact that will last far longer than their playing days.
Continuing to serve the community
Some athletes continue to come back to the area and give back, such as South Carolina football alumnus Corey Jenkins, who played from 2001-2002.Jenkins is the football coach at Dreher High School, his alma mater.
Jenkins grew up in Columbia and was a star in multiple sports at Dreher. He was originally drafted to the MLB in the first round and spent five seasons in the minor leagues before deciding to jump back into football.
He began his collegiate football career at Garden City Community College before being recruited by then-head coach Lou Holtz to play football at South Carolina. Jenkins played for several NFL teams before beginning his coaching career.
In 2022, it was announced that Jenkins would be returning to coach at Dreher High School. As a coach, he said he firmly believes in a strong sense of giving back to the community due to his upbringing in the Columbia area.
“We were being raised by our entire community,” Jenkins said. “And that was the way they gave back to us … it was instilled to me as a child, and that's what I'm trying to instill into these kids here.”
Jenkins said he believes that as a student-athlete, there are certain roles and responsibilities that you must attend to, with one of them being giving back to the area.
“As an athlete, you are put into a light to where you've got to accept certain roles and certain responsibilities,” Jenkins said. “And sometimes that is to say, 'Okay, guys. We've got to go and give back. We've got to do this community service or that community service.' And that comes along with the territory.”
Jenkins is not the only former Gamecock to continue to make their presence felt in the city after leaving. Basketball alum A’ja Wilson started the A’ja Wilson Foundation, designed to help kids struggling with bullying and dyslexia.
“It gives the city life, for one, but it gives the youth life too,” Jenkins said. “When kids see that, they're like, 'Man, she's (A’ja) from right here.' I could just imagine the amount of young girls that she (A’ja) has inspired just off of her success being from Columbia.”
Both Jenkins, Smith and Eason-Riddle all believe that as a student athlete, you have a platform that most students do not have, and it is up to them to make sure they are using that to the best of their abilities.
“We really do have a platform that can really affect and influence people's lives in a positive way,” Eason-Riddle said. “That's really the whole vision of this program is to serve the kids in a different capacity that really don't have the same chances that we athletes have and doing the things we do on and off the field.”