Juju McDowell's big gold chain leads to special friendship with one young Gamecock fan

Juju McDowell loves himself some gold. It’s a big part of his fashion sense as he loves rocking his gold teeth.

In December, he added another gold item to his collection. At the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl, McDowell donned a shiny piece of jewelry that perfectly represented him ahead of his final game at South Carolina.

Dangling around his neck was a gold chain with a big Gamecock logo at the center. He saw that other football programs have their own gimmicks, like how Miami (FL) has the eerily similar turnover chain. With the Gamecocks having a strong season in 2024, he felt it was time for them to do the same.

“We’re good enough to have something too, you know?” McDowell told GamecockCentral. “And I feel like the fans would love to have something like that in the atmosphere where they can wait on the play to be made, and where’s the chain? So I was kind of a big adversary for it.”

Juju McDowell was the last player to enter the building from Gamecock Walk today.

Going out in style with this sweet Gamecock chain. pic.twitter.com/vSbe0dGdEC

— Jack Veltri (@Jacktveltri) December 31, 2024

McDowell’s gold Gamecock chain is a rare item. Sure, it’s not hard to find something similar to buy on the internet. But the now-former USC running back is one of a few to own one of these chains.

He and head women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley each have one. Former Gamecock wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and current starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers both want their own. And then, of course, Clark Neese owns the original version.

The first two names to own the chain are recognizable in Columbia. You may not know who Neese is, but you’ve probably seen him before. The 8-year-old is a passionate South Carolina fan who wears his chain to every game that he goes to. Well, almost every game.

“99 out of 100 times,” said Adrian Neese, Clark’s dad. “I mean, he forgot it one time. He was pissed because we were sitting right behind the bench at the basketball game. He had forgotten it that day and we didn’t have time to go home and get it.”

So more often than not, Clark is wearing his chain that his dad made him from scratch. Adrian said it usually takes him a couple of hours to put it all together, with the toughest part of the process being the jewels he has to put on it. But when it’s all ready to wear out and about, it usually catches everyone’s attention.

“The first time he wore the Gamecock chain, I mean, it was like every time he wears it, adults and everybody will just walk by saying something like, ‘Oh, I like that!'” Adrian said. “And then now, being on the jumbotron all the time, everybody recognizes him after the game when he’s wearing it, seeing him up there.”

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Clark’s main piece of jewelry eventually became popular with the football players. Instead of leaving right after the games and inevitably sitting in traffic, he and Adrian would wait to see the players as they left Williams-Brice Stadium. McDowell was one of the many who came by to greet and talk with them.

Then, a few weeks before the Gamecocks’ bowl game against Illinois, McDowell was signing autographs at the South Carolina Card Show. Clark and Adrian were in attendance, and when they went to see McDowell, that’s when he asked about getting a chain for himself. Clark, who loved McDowell’s gold teeth, happily approved.

“That’s the first time, I guess, Clark had ever seen gold teeth. And Clark told him, ‘I really like your gold teeth,'” Adrian said. “Juju’s grandma was there and thought it was the funniest thing she’d ever heard — some little kid talking about his gold teeth. That’s why he wanted that big old chain, because it matches his teeth.”

Just like he had done for his son, Adrian made a chain for McDowel. He and Clark then delivered it to him before the team headed to Orlando.

“We were walking to the locker room, Clark was wearing his, Juju had his and was showing people,” Adrian said. “Before they saw the one for them, they were looking at Clark and were like, ‘Oh, that’s the little guy with the chain!’ And then Juju pulled a big one out. The team went crazy over it.”

Even though McDowell only got to wear the chain for the last game of his college career, he has no plans to get rid of it. He says it’s hanging in his room and it “ain’t going nowhere.”

But it’s more than just an accessory. It’s brought McDowell and the Neese family close together. Over time, he and Clark have become buddies, as he’s been to Clark’s baseball games as well as his birthday party most recently. It’s something that McDowell called a “wonderful” experience.

“His dad, his whole family, that whole family are some of the most genuine people you will meet. They’ve been supporting me since day one,” McDowell said.

“It’s been amazing. And just knowing that you have people outside of what’s going on in your life that really care for you and want to have your best interest at heart.”

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