Fans greet Gamecocks with a message: ‘Job well done’

The University of South Carolina women’s basketball team received a champions’ welcome home Monday afternoon despite a narrow loss to Notre Dame in the Final Four Sunday evening.

A faithful crowd of cheering fans greeted the team at Columbia Metropolitan Airport as players departed their plane from Tampa.

The invitation for fans to welcome the team had been posted on the basketball team’s Twitter page just hours before the noon arrival at the Eagle Aviation Terminal. That was just enough time for Kimberlei Davis and her 8-year-old son, Benjamin Brown, to drive back to Columbia from their Orangeburg home shortly after returning from Tampa to watch the game.

They said they’ve gone to several home games and traveled to Greensboro and Tampa to watch the team compete in the NCAA tournament.

“I know we lost by one point, but I am still on a high because they left their hearts on the floor,” Davis said. “They played with so much rigor, vigor, enthusiasm and determination we couldn’t ask for anything more. They gave the fans exactly what we wanted and that was hard work and dedication.”

Brown – who was on spring break from Marshall Elementary School in Orangeburg, not playing hooky – said he is proud of the team for playing so hard.

“They never lost a game at the (Colonial Life Arena), but they did lose two games (during the regular season), and that’s OK,” Brown said. “They still played strong to get to the Final Four.”

The Gore family traveled from Sumter to the airport so they could show their support for the Gamecocks.

“It’s been a great for our kids to enjoy the game of basketball and to have good quality and character girls to look up to and respect,” Heather Gore said. “We were proud of them. Win or lose, it doesn’t matter, we are just proud of who they are and for all of the hard work they have put in.”

Libby Gore, 11, and her 6-year-old sister, Lucy, both stood eagerly with pens ready for their favorite players to sign a notebook and a basketball, which was already adorned with the autographs of former women’s basketball team members. Libby Gore said she has attended the Dawn Staley Basketball Academy twice and looks forward to going for a third time this summer.

Libby – who said she likes to play center – said the one thing she really likes about the camp is that actual members of the women’s team work as coaches for the campers.

“They are very nice, and they’re patient,” she said.

For Solomon Spann III and his 6-year-old son Solomon Spann IV, who are visiting family and friends in Columbia while on spring break, the event was a chance for them to see the team they support all the way from their home in Detroit.

Solomon Spann III said his mother works with A’ja Wilson’s mother, and the families have been friends for several years.

“(The event is) to support women’s basketball and to support the Gamecocks,” Spann said. “Let them know, job well done.”

This story was originally published April 6, 2015 at 8:54 AM with the headline "Fans greet Gamecocks with a message: ‘Job well done’."