Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] On this episode of Cox Talking Gamecock's. Women's Basketball's Final Four matchup, Meche Johnson comes home and baseball ends the losing streak. Okay, here we go.
[00:00:54] Okay. Welcome to episode three, 310 of Cox Talking Gamecocks. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 1801 to 2001. Hope y'all had a great week out there. Gamecocks. Big weekend ahead of us here. Men's and women's Final four, Major League Baseball in full swing.
[00:01:20] A lot of action to get excited for, but yeah, men's and women's final four all compelling matchups. Gonna be a packed weekend of hoops to see who is playing in the national title for both sides. My bracket still hanging in there by a thread, at least on the women's side, that is thanks to the Gamecocks. Of course. I had to pick them. Winning it all. Men's one, that's a. That's a different story. That was. Despite it being pretty chalky, that was just out the window pretty quickly. I don't know. Weird tournament. Weird tournament on the. On the men's side this year. But yes, ready for a jam packed weekend of good weather and hoops and just hanging out. Hope y'all are as well. But yes. Got a lot to cover for y'all today. Let's jump into it here, starting with a quick week in review. 1. One little thing to go over here. One score here one Wednesday night. The softball team beat Wofford to nothing. They continue to shine. Gonna be exciting to see what they do this weekend then. Got a couple of roster updates here from a couple of programs, starting with the football team. That's right, we're talking football. Haven't really touched on them lately, but spring practice is well underway. It's always fun to see the clips and the little press conferences and things like that that you get coming out of spring practice and, you know, a couple of guys are banged up and whatnot, but I think every team in the SEC deals with that. But I think the biggest thing that I've taken away from listening to the coaches and everything like that is just the continued development of the players, especially on the offensive side. It seems like the offensive line is as big and athletic and deep as it's been since Beamer's been here and probably a little bit before that as well. The freshman wide receivers are apparently turning heads. This fantastic group that Mike Furry had recruited. Now his job is that now that they're on campus and they're on campus early. Who can we bring up to speed quickly to make an impact in the fall? And then just hearing nothing but good things about Mike Shula and Lenora Sellers. Just staying on the same page. You, yes, Mike Shula adding a few things here and there, maybe mixing up some terminology here and there, but generally speaking, like keeping things so that Lenores can continue to grow and thrive in that system. So very cool that we have football back to at least talk about and visually see it just makes you excited. But the news from the program is that Edge Wendell Gregory has entered the transfer portal. Was a little surprised by this one. He only appeared in a few games, but felt like he had a lot of room to grow and develop on on this team here.
[00:04:18] I know that there is some, I guess, competition at, at the edge position. You know, it's, it's not a clear cut depth chart. There's a lot of competition and guys vying for that spot opposite of Dylan and then back up Stewart as well. But you know, I remember when he committed, I was excited about that. I think he had a high ceiling. But you know, all the best in, in your next venture, Wendell Gregory. And then sticking with transfer portal news here, but moving over to men's basketball. Lamont Paris continues to stay active here, but we had Cam Scott enter the transfer portal. This was a little surprising.
[00:05:03] I feel like I saw this, maybe I was dreaming, I don't know. But I feel like there were a couple of guys at the end of last season, Scott being one of them, who said, yeah, we're sticking around, we want to turn this thing around, we're going to grow in the program, etc. And Conyers is gone and now Cam Scott is gone. Obviously, Cam Scott's commitment made a lot of waves. Hometown guy, highly recruited, stayed home. It was just interesting, man. Like, I don't know what it was. He just, he didn't play a ton when he did. Didn't always look like he knew exactly what was going on. I just think it was a deal where he had to grow into this and he had to develop. And it's a shame that he's not going to give the second year a shot under Lamont Paris, but maybe a change of scenery will do him some good. But I mean, that's, that's college sports for you nowadays and it's college basketball too, where it just feels like the movement one year to the next. Like, you know, this was a developmental year for Scott and decides to take his talents elsewhere. So we'll see how that goes. South Carolina did receive a pair of transfer commits though this past week, starting with guard Kobe Knox from USF last year. In his junior season, he averaged 10.8 points per game along with three rebounds and two assists. He also shot 46% from the floor, so seems to be a nice pickup. And Lamont Paris just loading the team with experienced scorers. You know, I talked a lot last season about just not having that dude who could generate some points or a dude who could be like, I'm taking over this game. I mean, outside of cmb, right. But his game is different. There's something to be said about having a plethora of shooters. So you talk about Eagle staff, who some people are saying could be that Dalton connect type of player that comes from a lower level, just a pure natural scorer and can elevate his game in the sec. You bring in Kobe Knox, you have Miles Studi as well. And then you add that to the biggest news from the basketball team and that Mei Johnson is returning home. That's right. That is not a typo. You are not hearing things. That Mei Johnson, yes, him. He is back in the garnet in black in Colombia. Wow. I mean, my goodness. So now you're adding him into the mix too. And that was the type of dude who we missed this past year. A guy that could make offense happens. So very interesting story for Michi. Where you go from Ohio State to South Carolina, back to Ohio State, then back to South Carolina. He struggled with, you know, some mental health issues and he had to take a break this past season. And you know, look, is it your typical story? No, of course not to flip flop like that. But there is no one singular path to success and happiness.
[00:08:21] And Michi Johnson I think thought maybe returning home and going back to his original commitment, being closer to family and all of that would tick all these boxes.
[00:08:32] Ultimately though, I think he wanted to finish what he started here at South Carolina, wanted to finish his career at South Carolina and. And you know, he made a post and he just loved the fans, loved Colombia. You know, obviously there's a connection with Lamont Paris there. He saw the team have success. He knows what it takes to get there.
[00:08:53] And I welcome him back with open arms. I mean, when he entered the transfer portal, I think some people were cracking jokes like, oh, maybe he'll come back or you know, could you imagine this? Then there were some grumblings like, oh no, like we're talking to him. All right. And then he took another visit or two and you're like, all right, well, that was fun while it lasted. And then, bam, he's back. He's home. Welcome back home, Michi Johnson. So, yeah, it's going to be interesting to see how it plays out. Obviously, there's still some gaps to fill. The CMB of it all is still hanging over us. We do not know what he's thinking. He might go to the NBA. If I'm a betting man, which I am, I think he goes that route. But maybe, just maybe, CMB stays for one more go at it. You have cmb.
[00:09:42] Eli Ellis, Meeche Johnson, Eagle staff.
[00:09:46] All of a sudden, you got a team that is looking deeper and more experienced, certainly, than this past year. So very exciting. Welcome back. Michi Johnson. That's really cool. Also, Jamari Thomas entered the transfer portal, but I'm pretty sure he doesn't have eligibility left. So not really sure what's good with that. But biggest news is that me, Johnson, has returned home.
[00:10:11] But speaking of basketball, all eyes of Gamecock Nation are on our women's team and in Tampa as the ladies get ready for their Final Four matchup. I've been waiting all week for this. Waiting all week for Friday night, y'all. I mean, I'm pumped. This is so exciting. It cannot be overstated, but just how impressive this is. I talked about it last episode. It's just a testament to the hard work that this staff put in and all the hard work that the players did. Like banners fly forever. You have another one coming to Colonial Life arena now in a year that was a little atypical for South Carolina.
[00:10:58] And you know, I didn't mention it last, last episode, but almost getting lost in the shuffle is that this team lost Ashland Watkins to a big knee injury. That is a player who could have made a lot of these games feel differently by having that big presence. So for the team to battle through that adversity as well and is something that cannot be talked about enough.
[00:11:23] So Friday night, 7pm our Gamecocks will tip off with a chance at the national title game, a chance for a repeat on the line.
[00:11:34] And Carolina is facing a familiar foe in fellow number one seed Texas. It just felt like these two were destined for each other. You know what I mean? I mean, just with how things have gone this year, and when you looked at the bracket, you said, my goodness, there could be another potential showdown with Texas coming up. Now, the Gamecocks are five and a half point favorites as of recording this. And yeah, I mean, these two teams, of course they know each other or really I should say have gotten to know each other really well over this season here with the pair squaring off twice in the regular season and then one more time in the SEC championship game. South Carolina holds a 2 and 1 record against Texas this year. And look, I mean, the Longhorns are good. You know, they come to play, they play a physical style. They don't take a lot of threes, and their game is getting to the line. If they're getting at the line a lot and getting those free throws up, they are playing their game. And that was the difference in the SEC championship game is that South Carolina didn't really afford them that chance. And then they had to play from behind and in a big deficit. And that's not their style. They want to play you close, they want to play you physical.
[00:12:59] And so that was what we saw in the SEC championship game there. But in this tournament, Texas has largely handled their run pretty well. Tennessee gave them a fight and they still ended up winning by eight points. This will for sure be a challenge for Don and company because, I mean, look, and it goes both ways, right? Like, when you know your opponent well, it just makes things that much harder to best them, you know, I mean, they know your tendencies just like you know theirs. And with Texas having already beat Carolina this year, like, I. I kind of feel like that intimidation factor is a lot less than some other teams. I talked about that in past matchups. Maryland, Duke and whatnot. I don't think that's as big of an X factor as it is against Texas, you know, and speaking frankly here, the ladies need to step up their game in this one. I mean, these last two rounds have been too close for comfort. And no disrespect to those teams. Texas will not be as forgiving if you have those silly mistakes or you go cold for an extended amount of time. They just won't.
[00:14:14] We need to see our stars shine brighter than they have in this one.
[00:14:20] We need to play good, clean basketball and not give a lot of second chance points to these guys.
[00:14:28] And for Don, you know, I think this might not be the correct terminology as far as like basketball IQ goes, but I think she needs to keep the rotations tighter in this one.
[00:14:42] I, of course, am the farthest thing from a basketball expert, and I defer all of my knowledge to the multiple time national champion winner coach. But from my couch coach perspective, I do think there have been times where, where the team benefits more from having that veteran lineup out there. Like really the starting lineup, like maybe including Joyce you know, rotating in, obviously not a veteran there, but I think when you have our veterans out there, it's playing more of a simple game, a little bit more of a methodical game. And I think sometimes when other players have been rotated in during this tournament, it seems like the rhythm gets thrown off. And again, just from my perspective here, I think if that happens, dawn needs to be able to recognize that quickly, quicker than she has these last two rounds and sub whoever that is out on the flip side of that, right? Like, the. The other side of that coin is that we can mix it up. You know, you could put in Malaysia and Tessa and say, hey, we're going to go a little faster here. We're going to go younger here. This is going to be a different type of approach. So, of course, you got to take what Texas gives you and, you know, you got to, like, kind of outmaneuver them a little bit there. But I do think that when other players are rotated in, Don needs to keep a sharp, a very sharp eye on that, you know, and then when you look back in the SEC tournament, our defense is what stymied Texas, really, and it bailed us out late against Duke. So that needs to be sharp, too.
[00:16:22] Long story short, the pressure's on. I mean, you know, it's like, no crap, right? Like, the pressure is on. You're trying to get to a national title game. Every little thing matters. My crow to the game here is just don't let Texas play their game.
[00:16:40] Don't do them favors. Don't get them to the free throw line. Just play good, clean basketball and control the pace. Play our game.
[00:16:49] Final Four, let's freaking go.
[00:16:53] And then if we are looking ahead here, like, we're not saying anything just for everyone's education, UCLA and UConn are in the other Final Four matchup, playing after hours, and the winners of the games will play Sunday afternoon.
[00:17:13] Changing gears here and moving over to baseball, the Yardcocks were in action for a midweek game and are officially off the schneide. We made it. Round of applause. Round of applause to us. We made it. We're off the schneide. The losing streak is done. Paul Manneri said they were going to treat this game like game seven of the World Series. And maybe that's just what we have to do every single time then, because it certainly worked as Tuesday night, the guys beat Presbyterian 11 to 1 in a run rule win. Ethan Petrie got the scoring started for Carolina with a home run in the third. Then the boys put up a five spot in the sixth and four in the seventh. Icing on the cake for a much needed win for Carolina. Tyler Pitzer got the start and a no decision. It was Jackson Susi who got the win. Player Highlights Ethan Petrie two for two with two ribbies. Nathan hall two for four with another two ribbies. Up next for South Carolina, it is a weekend series at Mississippi State in Starkville. Your weekend rotation is Friday McCoy, Saturday Evans and Sunday TBA. So still sticking with that in the Sunday spot. Let's see if the boys can't go to Starkville and make this interesting. You know, I've been down in the dumps about the yard cocks like a lot of us have been. I don't like being that way.
[00:18:39] Maybe this is just what we needed. Get off the schneide, maybe go to Mississippi State.
[00:18:46] You know what happens if you steal a series, huh? Let's see what happens, huh? But with that, y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media, Twitter or X is Cox gamecox. Instagram is just the name of the show. Cox Talking gamecox. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
