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Salute to titles takes time
Aggressive defense links USC’s East division champs from ’97 and ’09
USC's Austin Steed tries to prevent a Tennessee score in the second half during the Gamecocks game against Tennessee at the Colonial Life Arena, Thursday, March 5, 2009.
Gerry Melendez/gmelendez@thestate.com
CommentsSouth Carolina’s men’s basketball team claimed a share of the SEC East title last weekend when Tennessee slipped in its regular-season finale against Alabama. But it’s still a title.
It’s the first in the sport since the 1996-97 squad rode a wave to a 15-1 conference record and the outright regular-season crown. Although a 10-6 mark may not sparkle quite as much, one of the stars of the ‘97 team is more than happy to give this year’s squad credit for its achievement, which includes a winning conference record for the first time in 11 years.
Melvin Watson, who ran the show in the ‘97 team’s vaunted three-guard offense, sees similarities between this team and his team, especially the never-say-die attitude, the backcourt-driven offense, and the hard-charging defensive style preferred by the head coaches.
“Coach (Darrin) Horn emphasizes defense,” Watson said. “His teams play hard and win games on defense.”
His former running mate in the backcourt, Larry Davis, notes that it helps to have a strong defensive player like Devan Downey, who leads the SEC with 87 steals, at the point putting pressure on the opposing guard from the get-go. Davis notes that Watson did the same thing in ‘97 for a team that also played aggressively.
“We played hard,” Davis said. “We were mentally tough and physically tough. When we stepped on the floor, we knew we were undersized, so we had to be tough. Coach (Eddie) Fogler drilled it in us that we had to be that way.”
This season’s run conjures warm memories for the players who made it happen 12 years ago.
“That year was so much fun,” said Davis, the second-leading scorer on that team at 16.0 points per game. “For you to have your name attached to something like an SEC championship was truly an honor.”
Davis, who is a health-care provider for at-risk youth in the Charlotte area, teamed with Watson and fellow guard BJ McKie to lead the Gamecocks that season. It nearly derailed early when the Gamecocks went 5-5 in the first 10 games, which included stunning losses to UNC Asheville and Charleston Southern.
A team meeting refocused the players, especially when seldom-used backup guard Hagen Rouse implored his teammates to play together and find their roles within the system.
Not only did USC follow with a dramatic run through the SEC schedule — only a loss at Georgia spoiled a perfect league mark — it also went outside the league and won a huge matchup against Top 10 Cincinnati, when Davis poured in 32 points and the team made 15-of-24 3-pointers.
The three-guard lineup of Davis, Watson and McKie gave the Gamecocks a lethal combination of shooters, drivers and passers. With forwards Ryan Stack and William Gallman routinely filling out the starting lineup in the middle, and Nate Wilbourne, Herbert Davis, and Arthur Carlisle and Bud Johnson coming off the bench, USC finished 24-8. It came to an end with a loss to No. 15 seed Coppin State in the NCAA tournament.
Watson, who is a teacher and basketball coach at South Pointe High in Rock Hill, pointed as a highlight to a victory at Florida, when USC rallied from a double-digit deficit late in the second half to win 80-79 in the fourth SEC game. .
“That really was the turning point for our season,” said Watson, who averaged 11.0 points and 5.1 assists and hit game-winning shots against Alabama and Vanderbilt. “We always believed we could make a run at teams.”
But two victories against Kentucky — the defending national champions in college basketball that season — remain the most vivid.
The overtime victory on Feb. 4 took place before a raucous sellout crowd at the Carolina Coliseum as well as a national ESPN audience. McKie poured in 22 to lead the way. “That was the game I enjoyed the most,” Davis said.
The rematch on Mar. 2 was just as significant, as the Gamecocks grabbed a 72-66 win on Senior Day in front of 24,326 fans at Rupp Arena. It was Kentucky’s first Senior Day loss since 1964. McKie, who is playing professionally in Israel this season after playing the past three in Italy, led the effort with 22 points.
“Everybody was counting us out and saying we’d be satisfied with a co-championship,” McKie said. “But we were so confident. We didn’t care who we were playing. We felt we could beat anybody.”
This year’s team also beat Kentucky twice, and McKie, who averaged 17.4 points that season, said it does not matter the Wildcats are not as strong as the late-’90s bunch.
“You’ll still take it,” he said. “Kentucky is always going to be Kentucky, and beating them twice in a season is something special.”
Watson noted both groups display a true team concept.
“There are a lot of people playing attention to the little things,” he said. “We did it as a team, and this team reminds me of that.”
McKie calls a championship season something that will always stay with the players.
“There were so many high moments during that year. People were talking about us. It was just great,” McKie said. “It was fun on the court, it was fun off the court.”
Reach White at (803) 771-8643.
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