Did We Have Much Tradition in Women's Basketball Before Dawn Arrived?

[gamecock stock]

Other than Parsons 5 years, whose time here ended in scandal, NO. Nancy Wilson had a solid career here, but not spectacular. Dawn has built a powerhouse here in a tough conference. Tanner did too, in baseball, in a tough conference. No reason why the others here can't do so as well in the other sports.

Way to go, Dawn, showing the others how it is done.

 

[Fowlmoodin99]

I think we were pretty competitive and BELIEVED we could get there. I'm not sure we have that level of faith in other sports.

 

[gamecock stock]

I think we were pretty competitive and BELIEVED we could get there. I'm not sure we have that level of faith in other sports.

I believe Dawn really works hard in recruiting, is a go-getter. Hopefully, our other coaches notice.

 

[Atlanta Cock]

She proves the problem is not money, the school, the campus, the facilities, Columbia or any other excuse I’ve heard over the years.

 

[atl-cock]

I think we were pretty competitive and BELIEVED we could get there. I'm not sure we have that level of faith in other sports.

The baseball team had it a dozen years ago. MBB had it in our latter ACC days.

 

[USCALUMNI]

She proves the problem is not money, the school, the campus, the facilities, Columbia or any other excuse I’ve heard over the years.

Ray Tanner proved the same thing in Baseball.

USCALUMNI

 

[Hobcawcreekcock]

Hire the right coach, with drive, existing reputation, and knowledge and you can build any program. Tradition helps, but blazing new trails isn’t impossible, as proven by Tanner, Spurrier, and now Staley!

 

[18IsTheMan]

Becoming relevant in women's basketball is a far cry from breaking through in football where we're always battling an entrenched power. You've got UT, UF, UGA, Bama, Auburn, LSU etc. At any given time, some of those programs are up and some are down, but there's always a giant in our way.

Dawn's time here started as Summit's was winding down at UT. It's probably more coincidental than anything, but our NCAAT run started as Summit's career came to a close. The torch was more or less passed from UT to us.

I'm not saying we can't do it in football...SOS had us on the cusp...but it will be considerably more difficult to do than in women's basketball.

 

[atl-cock]

Becoming relevant in women's basketball is a far cry from breaking through in football where we're always battling an entrenched power. You've got UT, UF, UGA, Bama, Auburn, LSU etc. At any given time, some of those programs are up and some are down, but there's always a giant in our way.

Dawn's time here started as Summit's was winding down at UT. It's probably more coincidental than anything, but our NCAAT run started as Summit's career came to a close. The torch was more or less passed from UT to us.

I'm not saying we can't do it in football...SOS had us on the cusp...but it will be considerably more difficult to do than in women's basketball.

True. But Louisianans love their LSU baseball too.

 

[ConwayGamecock]

We had an opportunity to become a special WBB program under Parsons, but she seemed to let things get out of control and even before scandal hit, turned out to be a pretty toxic personality towards her players. Beyond Bobby Knight toxic. So that probably wouldn't have manifested well. But despite those very horrible issues, Parsons was an above-solid recruiter, an above-solid coach of basketball, and she wanted her program to be the best.

Wilson was a proven teacher of quality basketball. She perhaps had a bigger drive when she was head coach of AIAW D-II and NAIA College of Charleston, and especially before South Carolina joined the Southeastern Conference, towards the latter stages of her career. In the old Metro Conference - think Sunbelt Conference today (the Metro actually became what is the Conference-USA today) - South Carolina dominated, but the conference was not a major conference, and despite the many number of NCAAT appearances the Gamecocks made, they rarely got past the 2nd Round (they had one Sweet Sixteen). When South Carolina joined the SEC, Wilson's program was suddenly the much smaller fish in a much bigger pond, and the results was barely above mediocre.

That was in 1992. Until Staley's teams won 25 games and spent time in the top 25 rankings during the 2011-12 and 2012-13 seasons, the team results were not very memorable. Walvius had 2 seasons where she took the Gamecocks to the NCAAT, including one Elite Eight, but overall she finished her 11-year career as Head Coach 5 games above .500.

So there was a 17-year stretch beginning with 1991-92 through Staley's 3rd season in 2010-11, the Gamecocks were 291-288 (.503), with two (2) 20+ win seasons, two (2) NCAAT appearances, and four (4) WNIT appearances. Take away Walvius' 2 NCAAT seasons, and we were 243-273 in 15 years. The South Carolina WBB program was in existence for 17 seasons prior to 1991-92. So half of our program's history - the latter half - up to 2011-12 was predominantly a tradition of mediocrity......

 

[CockofEarle]

Other than Parsons 5 years, whose time here ended in scandal, NO. Nancy Wilson had a solid career here, but not spectacular. Dawn has built a powerhouse here in a tough conference. Tanner did too, in baseball, in a tough conference. No reason why the others here can't do so as well in the other sports.

Way to go, Dawn, showing the others how it is done.

Uknow, yer causing a flashback don’t u? The bumper sticker of the day back then, “Jim sticks em, Pam licks em”.

 

[Uscg1984]

Becoming relevant in women's basketball is a far cry from breaking through in football where we're always battling an entrenched power. You've got UT, UF, UGA, Bama, Auburn, LSU etc. At any given time, some of those programs are up and some are down, but there's always a giant in our way.

Dawn's time here started as Summit's was winding down at UT. It's probably more coincidental than anything, but our NCAAT run started as Summit's career came to a close. The torch was more or less passed from UT to us.

I'm not saying we can't do it in football...SOS had us on the cusp...but it will be considerably more difficult to do than in women's basketball.

Well, one thing is for sure: When we do eventually achieve success in football or basketball, there will be those, many of whom are Gamecock fans, who will say it was only because other powers in the conference were "down." They still say it to explain away our three-year run under Spurrier. They aren't entirely wrong because that's kind of how it works - every bit of success we have in the conference has to come at somebody else's expense. So, if we go up, somebody ahead of us, by definition, has to come down.

But it is kind of ironic how folks will simultaneously argue that we only went 11-2 those years because the rest of the East was "down," while also pointing out that we didn't win the SEC East any of those years.

We can do it in football too. But I think we start that process by not focusing on the LSUs, Georgias, and Alabamas of the league. Let's start by making sure we're better than Kentucky and Missouri and go from there.

 

[CockofEarle]

Well, one thing is for sure: When we do eventually achieve success in football or basketball, there will be those, many of whom are Gamecock fans, who will say it was only because other powers in the conference were "down." They still say it to explain away our three-year run under Spurrier. They aren't entirely wrong because that's kind of how it works - every bit of success we have in the conference has to come at somebody else's expense. So, if we go up, somebody ahead of us, by definition, has to come down.

But it is kind of ironic how folks will simultaneously argue that we only went 11-2 those years because the rest of the East was "down," while also pointing out that we didn't win the SEC East any of those years.

We can do it in football too. But I think we start that process by not focusing on the LSUs, Georgias, and Alabamas of the league. Let's start by making sure we're better than Kentucky and Missouri and go from there.

 

[atl-cock]

Well, one thing is for sure: When we do eventually achieve success in football or basketball, there will be those, many of whom are Gamecock fans, who will say it was only because other powers in the conference were "down." They still say it to explain away our three-year run under Spurrier. They aren't entirely wrong because that's kind of how it works - every bit of success we have in the conference has to come at somebody else's expense. So, if we go up, somebody ahead of us, by definition, has to come down.

But it is kind of ironic how folks will simultaneously argue that we only went 11-2 those years because the rest of the East was "down," while also pointing out that we didn't win the SEC East any of those years.

We can do it in football too. But I think we start that process by not focusing on the LSUs, Georgias, and Alabamas of the league. Let's start by making sure we're better than Kentucky and Missouri and go from there.

Having just won a national title (and second in the past five years), IMO, we have achieved success in basketball.

 

[Uscg1984]

Having just won a national title (and second in the past five years), IMO, we have achieved success in basketball.

No doubt because the rest of the SEC was down!

 

[Skuddy]

No doubt because the rest of the SEC was down!

And the rest of the country as well.

 

[Prestonite]

Hire the right coach, with drive, existing reputation, and knowledge and you can build any program. Tradition helps, but blazing new trails isn’t impossible, as proven by Tanner, Spurrier, and now Staley!

So true. But Dawn has taken the extra step by refusing to rest on her laurels and is taking advantage of every opportunity given to her to continue the tremendous momentum she has built to make USC the go to place for women's basketball. Other coaches have failed to capitalize in the past.

 

[Atlanta Cock]

She proves the problem is not money, the school, the campus, the facilities, Columbia or any other excuse I’ve heard over the years.

 

[Prestonite]

Had no idea we ranked so high

 

[atl-cock]

What criteria are used?

 

[vacock]

Had no idea we ranked so high

A journalist on a deadline. Take it for what it’s worth. Good press for us however.

 

[gamecock stock]

Shane has selling points he can make to recruits. He was hired because he was supposedly a super duper recruiter. Frankly, the players he got through the transfer portal saved his first recruiting class because the high school recruiting was only "so-so", in my opinion. Dawn built her program through relentless recruiting. Shane will have to do the same. Hopefully, he will.