Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox talking Gamecocks. Men's basketball gets a huge win. Baseball gets a series win as well. And there's a new opening on the football coaching staff. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:55] Okay.
[00:00:57] Welcome to episode 221 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 18 one to 2001. I hope you all had a lovely weekend out there. Gamecock Nation, the vibes are up. It was a nice weekend. A lot of action throughout. Really. No matter where you turned, you had different sports going on all the time. With baseball, cooking. Now it's the perfect lead into basketball and vice versa. It was great. I know. That helped reset me. Nothing like hanging out with some friends, watching the Q zips, chilling, resetting. It's all great. But hope you all had a great weekend and are ready for a good week ahead here. Got a packed episode for y'all here. Lot of action to go over. So let's jump right into it with a quick weekend recap here. Starting out on Friday, you had softball beat JMU three to two. And also they beat UMass on Friday, five nothing. Softball continues to roll. Bev Smith and team are having a very, very good start to the year. Very impressive. From them. You had beach volleyball back in action. They unfortunately lost to FaU five nothing, and then also lost to Tampa four to one. But, I mean, those are Florida schools, right? Like, what else are they doing? They play beach volleyball all the time. Right? No shame in that. And then Saturday, you had equestrian in action. They unfortunately lost to Georgia eleven to nine. And then softball beat us again, five nothing. But then, unfortunately did take an l to South Alabama five to two. Beach volleyball in action again Saturday. Tough start for them. They lost to Georgia State three to two, and then lost to Arizona State four to one. And then Sunday, we had women's tennis. They beat Charlote four to one. And then softball, surprise, surprise, they beat Charlote seven to two. So, yeah, like I said, I was not kidding around. There was a lot of action going on. And it's fun.
[00:03:20] Like, even if you're not seriously following some of these sports, just Gamecock social media is just alive with a lot of these updates and things like that. Just obviously their own accounts, but then the main athletics accounts. So it's just really exciting when you have all of these different sports cooking. There's a lot of action. It's just encouraging to see. Right? So shout out to everyone who was in action this past weekend. Now, before I jump into the major sports here, there is a bit of interesting news from the football team, and that is that James Coley, wide receivers coach, is actually leaving to take that job at Georgia.
[00:04:06] So I don't even know where to begin with this one. Right? I don't even know where to begin with this one. James Coley, if you'll remember correctly, he was just hired like a month ago, maybe, if that, to be the wide receivers coach. All this fanfare comes in with all the experience. Really excited to upgrade our room. Yada, yada, yada. He says he's excited to be here. Yada, yada, yada.
[00:04:32] That job opened at Georgia, and he takes it.
[00:04:37] I don't even know what to say about that. He is not worth our energy to get that upset about. But I think you have to acknowledge that. That's just like, what kind of a move is that? Even just look at it from an employee employer relationship.
[00:04:57] You accept a job somewhere, you go through the whole interview process, say, yeah, I want to work here. You get the job only to then bounce like three weeks later. That's just like, professionally. Where is the courtesy in that? And I understand coaching is a very unique profession and all that jazz, but what kind of bs is that, man? Really? That is baloney. That's a snake in the grass move. Like, not okay, so whatever.
[00:05:30] Don't let the door hit you on the way out.
[00:05:33] Whatever. So now Shane Beamer has the lovely task of trying to once again fill out his staff after a maybe somewhat unexpected departure. So we'll see who he brings in, and I'm sure who he brings in. One of the first questions he'll ask is, are you thinking about leaving? Because we need someone who is really bought in for us. And that's the thing, too, right? You bring in these coaches, and Beamer has always tried to have some sort of connection to either the state or USC. Sometimes that's not possible. So for some of these guys, it is just a job and they want to go somewhere else. Maybe they get paid a little bit more. Maybe they feel like the infrastructure is there, maybe the wins are there more recently. I don't know what it is, right? But you want to try and bring in someone who wants to be there, because that way they put that effort case in, you know, not everyone's going to be him.
[00:06:36] Not everyone is going to have that connection. Interim coach, family, lives in Columbia, all that jazz. But when you have someone who has that extra sense of motivation to the institution, you're going to get a better effort from them. So James Coley is no more at USC. Whatever.
[00:06:56] Good riddance. But moving on here to the hardwood, where the men's basketball team was back in action against Ole Miss in a huge spot. Huge road win. Spoiler, huge road game here right now. It's funny, I put on Instagram before the game. Is this game a must win? I talked about that in the last episode where I might have stopped short of saying it was quite that, but it was a huge, huge game. Of all the people who answered on instagram, it was 100% as, yes, this is a must win game. And it was incredible because going into this matchup, Ole Miss was 14 and one at home. The Gamecocks were actually underdogs by about three points going into this one. So what do they do? What does Lamont have the Qzips do? They roll down to Oxford and get a massive win, beating the Rebels 72 to 59. And mind you, they were also down a man as Miles studie was out dealing with a little.
[00:08:08] I think it was like a knee contusion or something along those lines, so you're down a man.
[00:08:13] The Gamecocks built up a first half lead of 14 points going into the break, and then in the second half, they dealt with a couple of old missed runs, but it never got too, too close. It was like, in the back of my mind, I'm like, after the LSU game and this first matchup, it was just like, okay, let's go. Let's keep it at bay here. So you always had that in the back of your mind. You didn't want to get too excited when the lead was being built up and things like that. But it really was the opposite of the last time these two teams met, where the Gamecocks really were able to put their opponent away. And the offense was just very efficient, consistently just getting contributions up and down the roster. And it was exciting because anytime big shots fell, they felt even bigger as both teams were very defensive minded and you're trying to sort of keep Ole miss at bay and build up your own lead. And anytime there was a three pointer that went down, it felt like four or five points just by the way you knew this game might go and then just executed very, very well. The guys came into the game, they looked fresh, and it was exactly what you were hoping to see. And then side like, just one of the dirtiest plays that you'll see was when Flanagan elbowed Zachary Davis, like, unbelievable. Away from the ball after the point, just clocked him like a friggin UFC elbow and shout out to Zachary Davis because you could tell he was pissed and he was looking at him and the guys were holding him back. But he really didn't lose his composure like many other people would. And if anything, it fueled the guys to finish this thing strong. And then you had Ole miss down one of their better players and I think it was just a sign of frustration. And you probably had a situation where Ole Miss probably thought that, hey, we're really good at home. We played these guys close last time at their place. This is going to be a different story, yada yada. No, it was not like this was the exact opposite. It was a huge bounce back win and the composure for the guys to go in there and play their game. The defense was incredibly strong. The offense again, efficient passing, getting that extra pass in where you need it was very, very impressive. I mean, this was a magnificent coaching job from Lamont Paris. You really can't say enough good things about this because the guys were in a bad spot. They were on a two game skid. You're staring at five quad one games left in the year. You're also looking at going into this game, back to back road games. So it just felt like there wasn't a lot of relief coming up, right.
[00:11:29] So you had to sort of make your own destiny, if you will. And he took the extra rest that they had got the team's mind right, came out with a great game plan, learned from the last matchup they had with Ole Miss, forced bad shots on them and look at the result.
[00:11:51] And it just really is truly like, that is a magnificent coaching job. And the guys came in and did exactly what you needed to do. Some player highlights from this game. BJ Mac had 17 points. Zachary Davis, he had himself a fantastic game. 14 points, nine rebounds, one elbow taken. And then Jacoby Wright, he had ten points off the bench. That's what I'm talking about where you had this consistent output from different guys, right? I believe Talon Cooper had nine points. Michi, I think he only had five. But again, he's still finding ways to be active in the game. He had a couple big shots driving. He's still trying to get know he's dealing with a little nagging injury himself. But very, very great effort and a huge win from the guys. Now up next for the men is a game Wednesday night at Texas A and M. The Aggies are 15 and twelve overall. Six and eight in the SEC.
[00:12:51] Micro to the game. Here is control the glass. A and M is really good at rebounding. So for Carolina to hang with them in that department. It should level everything out, but try and limit the second chance points from a M, especially on the offensive side. And you got to fight for our own offensive rebounds. But qzips huge bounce back win just changes the vibes.
[00:13:17] Let's go. Let's make it two in a row. Back to back road wins would be impressive as all heck.
[00:13:24] But then sticking to the hardwood here, let's talk women's basketball. As last week, the ladies clinched the SEC regular season championship after beating, you know, I didn't want to jinx it last episode, but the ladies came out and despite a sluggish start to that game, really just stomped Alabama. Was a fantastic game at home, got that SEC regular season championship and it also marked 600 career wins for Don Staley. Just a fantastic job. And I've said it once, I say it a thousand times. We are so lucky, so blessed to have Dawn Staley at USC. She has built a program that is a powerhouse, that is a staple, that is becoming synonymous with women's college basketball. And for her to go out there and this year with a completely revamped roster and a completely revamped starting five, essentially, to go out there and still dominate in that fashion and win that SEC regular season championship and stay undefeated to this point in the year is a testament to all of the recruiting that she has done, to her ability to coach and adjust in the game, to the people she put around in that program. And a shout out to the players, of course, for believing in themselves going through the process.
[00:14:58] And this is what you get. It's fantastic. Sunday, though, the ladies were back on the hardwood and they beat Kentucky and really cruise to this victory here, 103 to 55. The Gamecocks dominated from tip off with smothering defense in the first quarter and then really had an explosive offensive output in the third quarter. And you saw the depth of the team really outwork here with how many people got in the action this game. Player highlights Brie Hall, 18 points, Malaysia full Wiley, 13 points or, excuse me, 17 points and then Ashland Watkins with 13 points. Now up next for the Gamecocks is the game Thursday night at Arkansas. Arkansas is 18 and eleven overall, six and eight in conference. My quote of the game is just flex that depth right? Get a big rotation in eight or so players deep and just use our depth to go wave after wave against Arkansas.
[00:15:59] But now moving over here to the diamond as the Yardcocks took on Belmont this weekend at founders and I mean Belmont, more like Smellmont, am I right? As the Gamecocks got a nice series win here. Game one. The Gamecocks got the w eight to one despite a lengthy rain delay. Nice picture came out of that. The guys are just chilling, playing Xbox in the clubhouse goals. But Parker Nolan got things going right away in this game with a two run home run. Gavin Cass has kept the scoring going after the rain delay with a couple of big hits. Gavin Cassis, a name that really, we haven't talked about a whole heck of a lot going into this series. Sort of a slow start for him this year. You'll see he had a couple of big hits. Maybe he's heating up after this series. You got to love to see it. Player highlights from this game. Gavin he went two for three with three ribies and then Dylan Brewer went three for three with two RBI.
[00:17:03] Game two. The Gamecocks suffered their first loss of the season, unfortunately dropping the game eleven to two. And for the first four innings or so it really was tight. Like one nothing or so. But after the fifth inning, Belmont really was able to string together some big innings and Carolina couldn't cash in much all game. Dylan Escu got the start for the game and the loss, going five innings and look, you never like to see your teams lose. You don't, right? And with college baseball, sometimes you are able to get on a super hot start. But it's baseball losses happen.
[00:17:43] You're not going to go undefeated. It's almost a matter of when you're going to take that first l. It's a fickle game, but I always just think of the old adage that Ray Tanner had when he was the manager for Gamecocks baseball and it was win your series at home. Don't get swept on the road. That's the recipe for success in college. And so you drop one game, how are you going to respond? That brings us to game three where the Gamecocks won the series going twelve to one in a run rule game yet again. So really tells you that's the bounce back. I think. Game two, just things didn't break our way and it tells you when you look at the scores, 8112 to one, clearly we were the better team in this series and it showed. Roman Kimball got the start in a no decision after going four innings, striking out four. Matthew Becker came in relief and got the win. Garrett Ganey ended the game. Cole Messina with a huge game, including the winning hit. The Moose just launched a home run to essentially walk things off. Player highlights here. Cole Messina, he went two for four with four RBI. Kennedy Jones, two for four with three RBI. Up next for Carolina is a midweek matchup at home against Gardner Webb and the weekend series with Clemson right around the corner. After that. Going to preview that next episode. But with that y'all. That wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show, Cox talking gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
