4 days Ago
Forget Joe Exotic . The Tiger Kings are living in Columbia. South Carolina held its fall commencement ceremony on Monday.
The end to an entire semester. One hundred and twenty days filled with all-nighters, dropped classes and some eleventh-hour math to determine what grade you need on your final to keep a ‘C.’ All the typical college fun.
You know what this fall semester of the 2024-25 school year didn’t include? A single Clemson victory over South Carolina. None. Nada.
Zilch. It started on Aug. 30, when the Gamecocks’ men’s soccer team improbably came away with a 2-2 draw against No.
1 Clemson. A week later, the South Carolina women’s soccer squad earned a Palmetto Series tie — a 1-1 draw against the 25th-ranked Tigers. Then, finally, someone actually won a game.
In September, the Gamecocks’ women’s volleyball team knocked off Clemson in straight sets. Two months later, just before Thanksgiving, the South Carolina women’s basketball team went to Clemson and bulldozed the home team by 32. You know what happened when the football teams squared off in Clemson.
LaNorris Sellers — darting and cutting for the game-winning touchdown, wounded the Tigers. Demetrius Knight — with his last-second interception — killed them. No.
15 South Carolina knocked off No. 12 Clemson. That led us to Tuesday inside Colonial Life Arena, with the men’s basketball team not just trying to keep afloat its NCAA Tournament hopes but the entire athletic department’s undefeated streak over its upstate rivals.
For his part, Sellers was in the building supporting. He left his seats with about 90 seconds left, when it seemed like a certainty the undefeated streak was intact. Then Clemson’s Chase Hunter turned into Reggie Miller and hit two quick triples.
The Gamecocks were up just one. Sellers and his two teammates stopped along the walkway of section 129 to watch. That was where Sellers was able to see what life is like when you’re not the man in the arena capable of determining outcomes.
Hunter banked in a 3-pointer to send the game in overtime. Sellers stood there like a first-grader who stumbled inside the Greek Village. His eyes wide, mouth gaping open, the shock keeping him still.
But thank goodness for Sellers’ basketball doppelganger. The other second-year star from the Palmetto State. The other Tiger tamer.
“Collin Murray-Boyles,” said Clemson coach Brad Brownell after the Tigers’ 91-88 loss to South Carolina, “down the stretch was probably the difference.” Yes, he fouled out in overtime but not after — 1. Drawing a fifth foul on Clemson’s Ian Schieffelin, 2.
Scoring 22 points and grabbing nine boards and 3. Only missing two shots all night (8-10 from the field, 6-6 from the free-throw line). And don’t think Murray-Boyles was oblivious to the undefeated streak or the gravity of this game, this rivalry.
“I’m from here. This is a really big deal,” Murray-Boyles said. “This really hits the spot, being able to contribute in something as big as this — something as big as this for the school.
I feel really grateful for the opportunity.” This next week might be tough for Gamecocks fans. On Saturday, they’re going to have to watch No.
16 Clemson play in the College Football Playoff. They’re going to have to watch the same Tigers’ squad that lost to South Carolina enjoy the opportunity the Gamecocks were denied. Man, what a sour feeling.
“They may be ACC champs,” head football coach Shane Beamer said of Clemson. “We’re state champs.” Darn right.
Thank goodness for that 4-0-2 Palmetto Series record, for nights like Tuesday — when South Carolina fans can run the rivalry as big brother. After the game, an older South Carolina fan was walking up the stairs to the concourse. He looked to the Clemson fans on his left, knowing this was his opportunity to seize the moment.
“Have fun in baseball,” he yelled..
