Gamecocks prepare for Arkansas
South Carolina will face Arkansas this weekend for the first time since USC defeated the Razorbacks to advance to last year’s College World Series final, and coach Chad Holbrook is not downplaying the budding rivalry.
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South Carolina will face Arkansas this weekend for the first time since USC defeated the Razorbacks to advance to last year’s College World Series final, and coach Chad Holbrook is not downplaying the budding rivalry.
Despite Wednesday’s early exit from the SEC tournament after South Carolina’s 70-59 loss at the hands of Mississippi State, men’s basketball coach Frank Martin said his team has made the proper strides toward success in the future.
Junior guard Brenton Williams said in the past week he has been spending more time than usual shooting after practice, at the urging of junior guard Bruce Ellington.Williams’ increased preparation more than paid off in Wednesday’s 79-72 win over Mississippi State, as he scored a whopping 38 points off the bench. Williams made six 3-pointers and 10 of his 17 shots to shatter his previous career high of 22 points.“Without my teammates I think that tonight probably wouldn’t have happened,” Williams said. “They created the open looks for me, and I was fortunate enough to make most of my shots tonight.”The outburst from Williams truly was a team effort, as 18 of USC’s 21 field goals made came off an assist.The 38 points marked the first time a Gamecock scored more than 35 in a game since Devan Downey dropped 36 at Florida in 2010.The extra effort from Williams before gameday did not go unnoticed by coach Frank Martin, who said the junior stayed long after the mandated 100 shots after practice. Martin said because of the renewed enthusiasm from Williams, he was not surprised by Wednesday’s performance.“When you invest into whatever you’re trying to do, all of a sudden you’re more willing to work,” Martin said. “Because you’re fully invested in finding success and (Williams) for the last eight, 10 days something’s reclicked there.”Martin said every aspect of Williams’ game, from his aggression to his attention to detail, has improved over the last week and a half and has led to positive plays being made for the Gamecocks.Wednesday was senior night at Colonial Life Arena. USC has two seniors on the roster this season in consummate starter Lakeem Jackson and fifth-year-senior walk-on Shane Phillips, who has been on the team for the past two years.Making the first start of his career, Phillips scored the second basket of his career in the early stages of the game. Phillips made his first career shot last week against Texas A&M.Jackson closed out his Gamecock career just shy of a double-double, registering nine points and pulling down eight rebounds. Jackson entered Wednesday’s game with 749 career points and 557 rebounds in the garnet and black.“I’m real happy for [Jackson] and [Phillips],” Martin said. “They can always look back on their senior year and know that the last time they took the court their team was able to get a win.”Also earning a start in Wednesday’s game was true freshman Brian Steele, who was in the starting lineup for his second game in a row. Martin cited Steele’s enthusiasm and work ethic in practice throughout the year as the reason for the change.“That kid never shuts up,” Martin said. “That kid stands on the sideline and is just clapping and encouraging every minute of practice. Those are the guys that I’ve based my career on for 28 years.”Steele scored six points on the night off two 3-pointers along with grabbing two rebounds and handing out two assists.While he doesn’t like to talk about the postseason, Martin sees Wednesday’s win as a positive sign for things to come as South Carolina enters the SEC tournament after a final regular season game at Vanderbilt.“I’m real happy for our guys,” Martin said. “They’ve battled all year to try and do what we ask them to do. Sometimes it hasn’t been great, but for the most part they’ve continued to come and battle and I’m real happy for them to close out the home season with a win.”
After South Carolina baseball suffered a loss to Clemson Saturday, coach Chad Holbrook said his team needed no motivation for Sunday’s series finale against the Tigers.
In the week leading up to South Carolina’s second series of the year, head coach Chad Holbrook has consistently preached one thing to his team. It has nothing to do with footwork or fastballs, but with having fun.
Throughout the season, women’s tennis head coach Kevin Epley has insisted on professionalism and energy from his team, and with three matches left before SEC play starts, he says it’s a work in progress.
Coach Chad Holbrook said before the season that Athletics Director and former baseball coach Ray Tanner didn’t do him any favors scheduling Liberty as the Gamecocks’ opening weekend opponent.
Much like the rest of the team, the outfield was not spared from changes after the 2012 campaign. This year’s Gamecock outfield returns one of its three starters from last season.Coach Chad Holbrook removed some of the uncertainty from the outfield by naming sophomore TJ Costen and junior Graham Saiko, a junior college transfer, to starting spots alongside sophomore and returning starter Tanner English.Originally recruited as an infielder, Saiko found his home in the outfield in his first fall with the team. Holbrook values the experience Saiko brings to the team as well as his talent.“(Saiko) can really play,” Holbrook said. “He moves the ball. He looks like a prototypical 2-hole hitter. He can run too ... He’s a good player.”Like Saiko, Costen has impressed the coaches with his athleticism throughout the fall. However, as a still-developing sophomore, Costen must increase his maturity level this season.“(Costen) is one of our better athletes ... But we have to keep polishing him up a bit,” Holbrook said. “He’s unpredictable at times, but he’s an awesome talent. If we can corral him a little bit and help him stay within the parameters of the game, I think he can have a really good year for us.”English, the lone returning starter, played in all 69 games for USC as a freshman last year and started 68 of them. This year will have a theme of transition for the sophomore, as he will move to center field and experiment with switch-hitting this spring.“I’ve never really [switch-hit] before. I’ve messed around with it, but have never really done it seriously,” English said. “Coach Holbrook gave me the opportunity to do it this fall, and he liked what he saw. I felt comfortable and had a blast, and I kind of stuck with it, and it is going pretty good so far.”English, who will left-handed in the season-opener, has been developing his switch-hitting abilities as a way to give him an extra step on the defense. He said the biggest challenge is establishing the muscle memory to hit in the reverse of what he has been doing his entire life.Two newcomers to the outfield and the team are redshirt freshmen Shon Carson and Ahmad Christian. Carson is a tailback and Christian is a cornerback for coach Steve Spurrier on the football team, and both made the baseball roster for the first time in their second year on campus. Christian narrowly missed the final cut last spring, as Holbrook has expressed throughout the offseason that he regretted the move to cut him.“Coach Tanner and I often talked last year about (how) the biggest mistake we made was probably not keeping Ahmad on our team last year,” Holbrook said. “We’re not going to make that mistake again. He’s too talented a kid.”As multi-sport athletes, both Carson and Christian bring an added element of athleticism to Holbrook’s outfield in addition to posing an offensive threat to the opposition. But the coach said Christian, who is a second baseman by trade, is still learning his new position.Holbrook has emphasized reducing strikeouts this year and capitalizing with runners in scoring position, so their contributions of speed bode well for the newcomers on the diamond this spring.“If I get a single I can turn it into a triple by stealing bags,” Carson said. “We really won’t have to use bunts to get us over. We can drive us in once we steal.”
In a defensive struggle that came down to the last shot of the game, No. 15 South Carolina fell to No. 14 Texas A&M 50-48 on Sunday in Colonial Life Arena.
One victory was all coach McGee Moody needed to bring him to 100 career wins as a head coach.
A 3-pointer from senior Ieasia Walker and a block from sophomore Aleighsa Welch in the first few moments of South Carolina’s game against Auburn set the tone of the game for the No. 15 Gamecocks.
South Carolina men’s tennis will look to get back on a winning track this Saturday behind first-year Gamecock Tsvetan Mihov, a junior transfer from Oklahoma.
With a spot in the ITA National Team Indoor Championship on the line Sunday in Ann Arbor, South Carolina was handed its first loss of the season by the No. 16 Michigan Wolverines.
In a game that went down to the wire despite a struggling South Carolina offense, Vanderbilt was able to escape Colonial Life Arena with a 58-51 victory over the Gamecocks on Saturday.
Coming out of high school, Georgia Rose was recruited by USC coach Kevin Epley to play tennis for William & Mary, where Epley was coaching at the time.
While the USC campus sat still with students away on winter break, Colonial Life Arena was alive with a full slate of women’s basketball games.