Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecocks, Don Staley gets a statue. Softball ends the regular season, and baseball looks for a series win at home. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay.
[00:00:57] Welcome to episode, episode 317 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope you all had a great week, Gamecocks nation, and are ready for another action packed sports weekend. Between Gamecock baseball, Gamecock softball, professional playoffs, it's just. It's a nice time of year. Happy maybe. You know, it really feels like just that beautiful time of year where you'll be sitting outside finishing work, finishing an assignment, whatever it may be. You just see that beautiful blue sky, low humidity, 77 degrees, and you say, damn. Looks like a damn fine day to have a beer. It's tough. It is tough having self control and not sitting outside on a patio and having a couple drinks damn near every day because it has just been absolutely gorgeous. But yeah, I hope you all had a great week out there. You know who had an awesome week? Dawn Staley. Shout out Dawn Staley. Her statue was officially unveiled. And I'm sure you've seen the picture if we're talking about it here, but wow. Like, they crushed.
[00:02:14] Feels like it's a roll the dice with statues nowadays, like the Dwyane Wade, the first Cristiano Ronaldo. Like, I don't know how in. In the age of printer, 3D printers and lasers and everything that we have now that we just haven't perfected that. Like, we need to go back to the Michelangelo days, but that's a different rant, I guess. But no, they absolutely crushed that statue. The iconic image of her after the national championship on the ladder. Like, what a cool picture to take. And like that being her forever legacy in Columbia. And no one deserves it more. I mean, what she has done for the entire sport of women's basketball, what she's done for the city of Columbia, what she's done for the university, it's all been fantastic. And she's just done some incredible things. And Dawn Staley will forever live in Gamecock lore, in our memories and in our hearts as what she has done and will continue to do as the winner that she is. But having a statue in Colombia just forever enshrines her as a piece of that city and a piece of the university. And it's really, really cool. They absolutely crushed. It seemed like a really nice ceremony. Yeah. Steve Spurrier making an appearance. Just all the people that she has impacted, made the effort to be there and it's just really cool to see. So shout out Dawn Staley. She had a hell of a week and absolutely love to see it, but. All right, got some stuff to cover for y'all here. Outside of that might be a little bit of a quicker episode here, but let's jump into some Gamecock trivia for y'all here. It actually is trivia today.
[00:04:02] In which round of the 2023 NFL Draft did Indianapolis Colts select South Carolina defensive back Darius Rush? That's a good question.
[00:04:14] Shout out Darius Rush. I'm going to say the sixth, fifth. Oh, I undersold Darius. My bad. My bad. Fifth round pick. Good value there. He's popped around a little bit, but, you know, he's. He's made some plays. But yeah, shout out Darius Rush there. But. All right, let's jump into things here with a quick week in review. Only one score to go over here Tuesday Softball beat Furman 10 to 2. They actually will finish up their regular season this weekend. They're actually first pitch Thursday evening against Alabama, finishing up their regular season with a top 20 matchup. 14 verse 19.
[00:04:58] So going to be interesting to see how the ladies close out things. You know, we've had some fantastic series in the SEC play. We've had some tough series, but. But if you can end the regular season with that momentum against a good opponent, it's going to set you up well for the SEC tournament. And stands to reason now, like we're. We're talking regionals, right? But if you are able to get some strong momentum in your corner, getting a top 20 series win in front of the home crowd to wrap things up.
[00:05:32] Coach Chastain, that's a fantastic way to end your first regular season in Colombia. So rooting on the ladies there. And yeah, let's end on the right note and get things going.
[00:05:44] Before I move over to the other diamond and talk baseball here. Do have some news from a couple of different programs here, actually, starting with men's basketball. Got some transfer portal updates for y'all here. This one was kind of interesting. Guard Cam Scott has withdrawn his name from the transfer portal and is returning to USC for his sophomore year. So obviously y'all remember we talked about that. Cam went into the portal and it was a little surprising at the time. I remember talking about it and you know, you never really know modern era of college athletics, but Cam was a big recruiting win from the area. Staying home, you know, all the skills in the world, really. You know, I think he was a top 40 recruit in his class. It was a big get for Lamont Paris last year.
[00:06:41] Didn't have a ton of playing time, you know, had flashes of it, but it seemed like he needed some development that maybe his game was not exactly there to compete at a high level in the sec.
[00:06:55] I'm not going to go down the road of maybe we should have played him a little bit more down the stretch once the season was clearly off the rails.
[00:07:04] But nonetheless, I guess he went into the Portal. Maybe his options were not what it looked like. Clearly was staying in touch with Lamont Paris Garnet Trust and has come back. So is it a little awkward? Yeah, of course, that is. And you know, there's kind of two ways to go about it where we see coaches. The second year in the Portal, you're done, you're not coming back. You kind of saw that with the drama and the rumor mill with Malaysia and the ladies team, but we're not going to get into that.
[00:07:37] But then you do see this from time to time, guys coming back. So I welcome him. It's a position where you can never have enough guys, enough scorers. And with someone who is highly recruited and such high talent as Cam Scott, if he can take that next step or two, his sophomore year, second year in the system, gonna be around some guys like Michi Johnson, right. Who understand what they're trying to do. Zach Davis seems to be. Not Zach Davis. Excuse me, Miles Studi. Zach Davis is gone. I believe he landed in Memphis. But Miles Studi is a guy who has been very active on social media. Seems to be a man on a mission to come back stronger and better than ever.
[00:08:24] What two better guys to learn from than a couple of guys who are good scorers, pretty good defenders, especially Studie and yeah, let's see if you can't take that next step because if he can, all of a sudden, everything elevates. You know, the Mei Johnson pickup is great. It's nostalgic, but he's going to need some help. When you look at the other guards we brought in, like Knox, whatnot, like, they're. They're good, but we need someone who can help elevate things. And I think Michi can be that guy.
[00:08:59] But really, if Cam Scott can come along and study, can be consistent, it'll elevate everyone, if you kind of see what I'm saying. But outside of that, the team also picked up a transfer commitment from forward Norton capek out of UC San Diego. Capic is a 6 forward foot 8 forward who averaged 10 points and 5 rebounds a game last year. This is kind of old news. I forgot to mention it last episode, but this is nice. You know, we needed a revamp. We had holes everywhere. You lose Pringle, you lose cmb, you know, you lose a Zach Davis, you know, there's other guys who left Ugasuk, you go and you bring in this forward who can provide some size for you. Who was at a winning program at UC San Diego, was a very active contributor for a good team last year. I like what he brings to the table. So that's a good pickup there. I'm not sure how the remaining scholarship settled out. I don't know if there's a couple of spots left. I want to say there are from this team one or two open maybe, but nonetheless, keeping Cam Scott bringing in Capic, this transfer class is rounding out quite nicely, but we got to put that work in and we got to see what are the resources we can bring to Lamont Paris.
[00:10:23] And then sticking with transfer news, but shifting over to the football team. Shane Beamer and company landed a commitment at a big position of need as the team landed a commitment from defensive lineman Troy Pikes at a Georgia Georgia Southern. This was a big win. You know, if you're someone who follows this, you'll know what I'm talking about. But to bring y'all up to speed here, Pikes was highly sought after. This was a recruiting win against the likes of Georgia and Ohio State. I think we had the resources set aside for the right prospect, but also our defensive lineman and that group, they need help. He's going to have some playing time. And Coach Robertson is the man for the job here, and his repertoire and his reputation had to have helped in this one.
[00:11:12] Now, Pikes is a younger player. He comes in with three years of eligibility. So you're not getting this Kyle Kennard type of dude who has a lot of tape, who's. Who's polished, who's looking just to kind of take that next step in his development. You're going to need to work a little bit to bring those skills out. But he has production already. He played in 13 games last season. That's good experience, recording 13 tackles and is credited with nine QB hurries. So he brings some production to the table. But again, this is a big position of need. I mean, shoot, just look at the guys we lost. We had two to the NFL draft in Tonka and T.J. you lose Jules, you lose Boogie Huntley. Those are. These are experienced, good defensive linemen. So the job for Clayton White, Shane Beamer, Coach Robertson, like, was to fill in that middle of the defensive line. You have Nick Barrett, Markel Goodwine, transfer from A M, Barlow, Dindy, probably just butchered that name. This is new. I'm still, I'm still getting used to him.
[00:12:29] But so you bring in some guys who had production. You had a couple of guys on the roster already who you have faith in. Brought in a couple other transfers. You're also bringing in from the juco ranks, Xavian Hardy, but that might, he might take a couple of games to get his feet underneath him. Right. Juco to the sec.
[00:12:50] So with pikes, you're getting a guy who has size, who has some experience at the collegiate level. Right.
[00:13:00] And simply you needed it, if nothing else, for depth. But when you look at the guys we were able to rotate in and out last year, it's a huge reason why the defensive line was so good. Like, yes, Canard and Stewart, they get the spotlight. TJ was incredible last year. Tonka was effective, Boogie was effective. And they are so effective because you have the depth so they can stay fresher later in games.
[00:13:31] And also when you have depth, you have more flexibility where you have your run stoppers or you have maybe a couple of guys who you feel, hey, they can get after the passer here a little bit. So with pikes, yeah, you're going to have to work him. He's going to have to go through a abbreviated off season workout here, but he's still going to get on campus in the spring. He'll be able to go through summer workouts, of course. But let's get him in the weight room. Let's get that nutrition going.
[00:14:03] You know, what can we do in the immediate term?
[00:14:07] And then let's go through summer fall camp, get him up to speed. So it's, it's a big pickup. You know, like we just needed another defensive tackle. It was. We were thin. And so you bring in a player who's young, which, hey, if he can be decently productive for you this year, and then you get two, like really good years out of him, growth with you within the program in the sec, like, that's a huge pickup. But again, if nothing else, you now bring in another guy with some experience who you can coach up, who has the size at a big position and needs. So I love it. It's great to see, like, you know, you obviously anytime you bring in a player from maybe a smaller school, there are people who are like, how could you be excited about that? Well, I'm excited because the, the team is putting the resources and the energy and the scouting towards a glaring hole in the defense. And they're actively working to fix the problem.
[00:15:12] And if we're gonna, like, look at it from a different lens, which is not how our staff does, but from an irrational fan perspective, he was sought after by Georgia and Ohio State. Like, clearly they saw something too, that they like.
[00:15:28] So we went after him. We got him. Big win at a position in need. Young player with a lot of upside. I'll have, I'll take that. I'll take that any day of the week. You know, like, yeah, maybe there's some other guys in the portal, maybe with better numbers, maybe from a P4 school. Maybe this team isn't done yet. You know, maybe Beamer and staff are not done.
[00:15:52] Nonetheless, I'm excited about it, but. All right, let's move on to baseball here. Cover this weekend series. But first, there was some tough news out of the clubhouse as Paul Maneri said that Ethan Petrie has an AC joint injury. That's your shoulder and it's going to take a few weeks to heal.
[00:16:12] So essentially ending his season unless this team has a miracle run to the postseason. And with that, unfortunately, we may have seen the last of Petri in the Garnet and black.
[00:16:26] So if that is the case, just tough, tough way for that to end. But wow, what a Gamecock career.
[00:16:37] Thank you, Petri, for all of the moments, like bursting onto the scene with a fantastic freshman year and not really easing up. You know, it was not a flash in the pan moment for him. The start of his freshman year, like, cooled off, but, but his cool off is still pretty hot for a baseball player, you know what I mean? And you never want to see a guy go out like that. But I think just the couple of years he's put in here his stock as an MLB prospect.
[00:17:11] It feels like it might be tough and it stinks to see him go out that way, but thank you, Pat. Like, for real, that was a fantastic few seasons. Stuck it out to come back this year and still showed up every day, worked his hardest. Tough way to go out, but we'll see, you know, we'll see, but obviously you, you feel, you feel pretty bad from there.
[00:17:35] The team, though, was in action Tuesday night against Charleston Southern. The guys got a midweek victory, winning 5 to 3. Carolina scored one in the second, but four runs in the seventh inning was the difference. Gamecocks got the bases juiced and took advantage with some good bats to bring in the four runs there. Jarvis Evans got the win going 5, 2, 3, allowing no runs. Brendan Sweeney got the save. Some player highlights for y'all here. Evan Stone Stoney went one for three with two. Ribby's Henry Kazmar went two for three.
[00:18:11] Up next for the Gamecocks is a weekend series against Florida at home. Florida maybe having a bit of a down year by their standards, currently sitting at 8 and 13 in the SEC. So they're going to maybe need to get things into high gear here to hit that benchmark of SEC wins. But they are sitting at 30 and 16 overall. Must be nice, your pitching rotation. Friday Brandon stone, Saturday Jake McCoy and Sunday TBA.
[00:18:41] My crow to the series. I, I honestly, I couldn't think of, I couldn't put my finger on one. You know, this team has fought against SEC competition. It's just.
[00:18:54] Can't stop the bleeding in the beginning. You know, let's just, let's just say that like don't fall into this pattern of being in a close game and then in like the sixth or seventh inning giving up more than three runs, like limit the damage. You know, avoid the big inning in that close game. You know, if you can get that series win against Florida, maybe a little bit of a down record be damned, that's still a feel good series and we're not going to get into what the rest of the season holds. Let's just look at what's ahead of us, put our best foot forward, do it for pet. Let's get it done. But with that, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media Twitter X is Cox gamecox Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking Gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the pod. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
