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Associated Press/
George Rogers
GoGamecocks.com
10 most influential in USC athletics history
Frank McGuire
Associated Press
Posted on 03.29.09
As compiled by columnist Ron Morris:
1. Frank McGuire
No person did more to bring big-time athletics to USC. Before he arrived in 1964, men’s basketball was barely considered a varsity sport. Five years later, and USC was on the national map as the nation’s consensus No. 1 team in the preseason.
He was named national coach of the year in 1970, took USC to its only ACC championship, in 1971, and strung together six consecutive seasons of 20 or more wins.
In 16 seasons, the nation recognized McGuire’s program as a perennial power. His teams won 283 games.
2. George Rogers
Rogers remains USC’s most celebrated athlete. He won the Heisman Trophy in 1980, bringing with it unprecedented attention for the athletics program and school.
Rogers ranked second nationally in rushing as a junior with 1,681 yards, then led the country as a senior with 1,894 yards. He holds the USC career rushing record with 5,204 yards.
Rogers topped 100 yards rushing in a game 27 times in 46 career starts, including his final 22 games. His single-game best was 237 yards, on 27 attempts, against Wake Forest.
3. John Roche
Roche remains the only then-active USC athlete to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated. He was the face of the emerging national power in men’s basketball from 1969 through 1971.
Roche was the toast of Columbia for all three seasons that he was an All-American. Youth players throughout the state emulated Roche making the sign of the cross before every free-throw attempt.
Roche’s No. 11 jersey was retired by the school, and his 22.5-point scoring average ranks second all time.
4. Paul Dietzel
His stay at USC was less than a decade, but Dietzel had as much influence on USC athletics off the field as he did as the football coach. His football teams went 42-53-1, yet the 1969 squad won the program’s only conference championship, when USC competed in the ACC.
As athletics director, Dietzel was the school’s first visionary. He saw USC competing on a national level in all sports. To do that, Dietzel pushed forward with state-of-the-art facilities. He enlarged Williams-Brice Stadium and was among the first to build a campus for athletes.
Unfortunately, the Dietzel era was punctuated by USC’s decision in 1971 to leave the ACC, one of the biggest blunders in the history of college athletics.
5. Rex Enright
Enright makes the list for longevity alone. He served as USC’s athletics director from 1938 to 1960. He also coached the football team for two stints, from 1938 to 1942 and from 1946 to 1955.
Although he had a losing record (64-69-7) as football coach, Enright remains first among USC coaches in all-time wins. The roundhouse athletics building is named in his honor.
Enright is most remembered for his propensity for defeating rival Clemson. His USC teams won one of four games during his first go-round as coach. Over the final 10 seasons, Enright went 7-2-1 against the Tigers.
6. Billy Laval
Hired away from Furman because USC could not beat the Paladins in football, Laval proved to be one of the greatest coaches in Gamecocks history. He is seldom recognized for his achievements, despite coaching the USC football, basketball and baseball teams.
He remains the coaching leader in winning percentage in all three sports. His football teams from 1928-34 went 39-26-6 (.600). His baseball teams during the same period were 54-13 (.806), and his one basketball team, in 1933, was 17-2 and won the Southern Conference tournament.
7. Lou Holtz
The legendary former Notre Dame coach brought with him to USC a personality and coaching style that played to a national audience. He brought much-needed attention to the football program.
Holtz also led USC to two of its greatest seasons, ones that both concluded with Outback Bowl victories against Ohio State. Unfortunately for USC, Holtz left the program as he did others — on NCAA probation.
8. Steve Spurrier
If the spotlight on USC had dimmed by the end of Holtz’s run, it quickly grew brighter with the arrival in 2005 of another coaching legend. Spurrier’s name alone has landed USC on national television at least six times in each of his four seasons.
His first USC team won at Tennessee and defeated 12th-ranked Florida. Three of his four teams have played in bowl games as Spurrier has gone about building a program that he says will compete for SEC championships.
9. Mike Grosso
His stay in Columbia lasted 15 months. He played half of one season of freshman basketball and never played in a varsity game. Yet Grosso was as big a reason as any for why USC left the ACC in 1971.
The fight with the ACC over Grosso’s eligibility left a bitter taste with USC athletic officials, coaches and fans. For many of those who were around during the controversy, a distaste for the ACC remains.
10. Eric Hyman
In only four years as athletics director, Hyman has displayed the kind of vision not seen at USC since the days of Dietzel. Hyman has embarked on a fund-raising campaign whose goal is to bring USC’s facilities in line with its competitors in the SEC.
Hyman also took charge of a baseball stadium project that appeared to be stalled and saw it through to fruition. It is too early make judgments on his first two high-profile coaching hires, but there is every reason to believe basketball coaches Darrin Horn and Dawn Staley will be signature hires for the athletics director.
Near misses: Sol Blott, King Dixon, Eddie Floyd, Curtis Frye, Bob Fulton, James Holderman, Mike McGee, Joe Morrison, Mike Mungo, Pam Parsons and Bobby Richardson.
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