Historical Newspapers of South Carolina

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P&om. CAMpi Gamecock basketball i AP/USA Today Top 10 done that English 1 Freshman Herbert Lee Davis drives to the wen 15-of-8 from the field on his way to a Something strange is happening in Columbia. Something short of unprecedented, but still all the more amazing. it s tne middle or rebruary, and USC fans are crowing about something. Gamecock basketball is making noise in the dead of winter, and for many, at not a moment too soon. After nearly 20 years of mediocrity, USC roundball has given football-crazy Columbia a case of gridiron amnesia. And what might seem 20 years ago for the 1996-97 Gamecocks ? two unexplainable losses in December to UNC-Asheville and Charleston Southern ? is perhaps what set the stage for the dramatic Gamecock Uprising ? an improbable 12 game winning streak after the down December. Sophomore guard BJ McKie, who leads the team in scoring with 18.0 points per game at press time, thinks USC's disappointing 5-5 start in December was the catalyst for the resurgence that put the state of South Carolina on its ear. "We knew in December P ind softball teams crack Rogers: Been there, major scoring minor v" fj |' mm MHRM 1 > basket against a Florida defender. Davis massing twelve points against the Gators. that we weren't playing the best basketball we could play," McKie said. "Our main goal going into this year was to contend for an SEC basketball championship, which we knew we could do, and we thought we could do that. "We said after December we were going to start with a clean slate." Now, USC's slate contains a likely NCAA Tournament appearance, and if all goes well for them, a high seed in the tournament as well. In a mock tournament selection on Feb. 12, ESPN had the Gamecocks as a No. 2 seed in the Southeast playing the Big South Champion. And, even though there still lies room for the Gamecocks to slip up, the poll showed just how far USC has come. Having run their record to 19-6 (12-1 SEC) and a No. 9 AP ranking at press time, the Gamecocks are beginning to make names like Fogler, McKie and Watson as household as McGuire, Roche and Cremins were in the early 1970s. And somehow, somewhere, Coach McGuire is smiling. Under the late Frank McGuire's watchful eye from 1964 to 1980,16 USC teams accumulated a 283-142 record and put USC bas ketball on the map. After McGuire's twelfth team posted an 18-9 record in 1976 ? a down year by McGuire standards ? USC basketball went through an otherwjse ho-hum 20year transition. What was the I epitome of USC hacWpthall linrW McGuire ? class, dignity and an overwhelming demand for respect ? gradually melted away under the three coaches who failed to live up to the rich standards McGuire established. There were the brief moments of glory for USC faithful. Coach Bill Foster's 1982-83 team posted a 229 record that had man ^ believing the thrill was back. Then there ,vas the 198889 team, coached by George Felton, that produced the NCAA Tournament berth. Felton's 1990-91 team took USC fans on a dizzying eight day joy ride that featured wins over North Carolina, Houston and - Temple. But for all the brief I glimpses ot success, there were even I more long hard looks at reality. I Looks that sprung from late-season \ flops by Felton's best teams and season-long flops under Steve Newton (1991 -93), who had a miserable 2035 record in his brief two-year stint in Columbia. But during the Gamecocks' heart-stopp?ing 84-79 overtime win over No. 3 Kentucky on Feb. 4, the House That Frank Built rocked like it hadn't in 20 years. As younger Gamecocks fans stormed the court in euphoric celebration after the game, older and wiser faithful who remember the McGuire days felt their spines tingle. H.. ri *"* rr ITCrV 1 A UUUII^ d 1 \Jgame winning streak prior to the Kentucky game, there were still questions concerning the team's resilience. "Wait until the Wildcats come to town," the skeptics said. "Then we'll see if they're for real." USC coach Eddie Fogler, who earlier in the streak cautioned that his team was fragile emotionally, let his guard down after his team's 76-68 win over Florida on rcu. o, ii5 iz.ni Miaigiu. "We're still fragile, I would say we're notquite as fragile because they're beginning to show that they come up witi ways to win," Fogler said. "But we are fragile, but in my opinion, there might be five, six or seven, eieht teams in America that are not fragile." McKie said USC controls its own destiny. 'We are our own worst enemy right ow," McKie said. "If we allow the pressure to build on us, then that's bad, but if we continue to look for it and keep stressing teamwork and doing the best that we can, we can fulfill one of our goals this year." One of those goals is reestablishing respect lost over the past 20 years. "If we can win an SEC championship, maybe it will open some eyes, but there's still a long way to go," McKie said. If and when the respect comes, with it will come the pressure of being a known basketball power. Fogler emphasized that after the Kentucky game, stressing that, when the Gamecocks get to a level on which they pack opposing players' gyms ? a level like Kentucky's ? then they will have truly arrived as a powerhouse. Junior guard Melvin Watson, averaging 10.8 points per game, said he feels the pressure already. "There's a lot of pressure, really," Watson said. "Teams are coming at us now that we are on top of the division, trying to knock us off," Freshman guard/forward Herbert Lee Davis, a solid 3-point shooter who has of late been a pivotal force for the Gamecocks, said rankings bring all the more incentive from other teams hoping for an nice addition to their NCAA Tournament resumes. "It's good to be confident, but on any given night, you can be beaten. We just have to come out, have confidence that we're going to give it all we can, and if we lose, we're beating ourselves." "Ratings are good, but you USA Today/ NSC A voters tl Gamecock softball team to rani elite this preseason. The Lady < including senior Ail-Americans and Tina Plew, and are the only Poll's Jop 25. Here is a look at ladies keep this season: Rank Team( 1st place votes) P 1 Arizona (19) 6 2 UCLA (6) 6! 3 Fresno St. 5: 4 Washington 51 5 Michigan 4! 6 Iowa 4' 7 S W Louisiana 4\ s * u \_ ai 11 vh 1 i I a H 9 South Carolina 41 ^10 Oklahoma 3! have to concentrate on other things. You can take it as, 'good we're l 1 1 ^ * i? *. ? -: laimcu il, uui un any given nigm we can get beaten." Whatever the ranking, the Gamecocks have breathed new life into Palmetto State basketball ? and it hasn't come without help. The Clemson Tigers, who made the NCAA Tournament last season, raced out of the gates this season to a 20-6 record and an unprecedented No. 2 ranking. After three losses in four games, the Tigers have rebounded of late and hold a No. 7 ranking. Add to the mix College of Charleston, which held the nation's longest winning streak at 14 as of press time, and Palmetto State basketball is quite a national power. "It's just a great thrill to know that the state of South Carolina can really act like that about our college basketball and what we have to offer," McKie said. And who knows what could have happened had USC squeaked past UNC-Asheville and Charleston Southern in December. Many say the Gamecocks would have an even better record if it were not for the early-season setbacks, but for McKie, they were the driving force. "It's just a great teeling to know that we had enough pride and enough courage to come in day in and day out after December and reo11\/ incf Ko mofiira okrvi J Ullj JUJl UV I1IUIUIV UUUUl llllllg^ <111U accept that we were 5-5," McKie said. And if the winning keeps up, McKie and the Gamecocks will be accepting many other things as well. ^>tomlnence tought enough of the Lady ; them ninth among the nation's Gamecocks return eight starters, Trinity Johnson, Chanda Lee SEC team represented in the the Top 10 company that the oints I 0? Rtf ' 55 ( % ^