Hosting the SEC Tournament for third-straight year, Greenville embraces the Gamecocks
Friday, the South Carolina women’s basketball team was set to play its first game in this year’s SEC Tournament, where supporters will be eager to see if the team can secure the conference title for the third year in a row.
But the day before, Gamecock fans strolled into Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville ready to watch other SEC teams compete in the second round of the tournament.
The reason? They just wanted to watch some competitive basketball.
Beaufort resident Simone Taylor has been following the South Carolina women’s basketball team for three years and has had season tickets for two years. On Thursday, she sported a T-shirt honoring fondly remembered super-fan “Gamecock Jesus” and several other garnet and black accessories.
For her and other members of the Greenville community, the tournament is a chance to gather and celebrate women’s basketball.
Greenville began its current stint hosting the tournament in 2023 and is set to continue hosting it through 2028. More than 64,900 people attended the tournament in 2024. So far, it is on track to either get close to or break last year’s record with more than 14,000 people showing up for the first round of the tournament on Wednesday.
“I just enjoy women’s basketball,” Taylor said. “There’s nothing like it, and I’m happy to be here.”
Greenville goes Gamecock
The excitement isn’t limited to the arena. Just a few blocks away, Fireforge Crafted Beer co-owner and USC alum Nicole Cendrowski is preparing for the Gamecock fans that will be raring to root for their team.
Cendrowski and her husband, who also graduated from USC, opened the brewery in 2018. It’s slowly grown into a prime location for Gamecock alumni to gather and watch games, she said. Cendrowski began working with the USC Alumni Association to organize events a few years ago.
Cendrowski said she doesn’t consider Fireforge a sports bar, but during different points of the year, they’ll host events that cater more to sports fans to help grow their business.
Depending on the event, they tend to have a couple hundred people come to Fireforge for pre- or post-game events. She said she never expected the place to become a key spot for South Carolina fans.
“You get to really give people a place where folks love to gather for a variety of reasons, and we look like we’re a Gamecock bar for different points of the year,” Cendrowski said. “It’s really gratifying, and I’m happy that we can do that and help.”
The opportunity has allowed her to connect with other USC alumni in Greenville, who “all kind of come out of the woodwork” during major match-ups, she said.
Other Greenville locals came out Thursday to support South Carolina and the tournament. Taylor Young, who was born and raised in Greenville, said she appreciated having the opportunity to take her 8-year-old daughter, who plays basketball, to the games.
Following South Carolina’s team has helped her daughter become more excited about women’s basketball, she said.
“I’ve noticed that she really wants to go out and practice more, and she loves watching and cheering, and so it encourages her to play, and made her really like basketball,” Young said.
‘It’s just good all-around basketball’
South Carolina fans came from a variety of places on Thursday. Some hailed from Columbia or Charleston, while others traveled from out of state or even out of the country.
Terry Chapman and his daughter Robyn Chapman came from Toronto, Canada, to watch the tournament. Robyn wore a South Carolina sweatshirt, but she and Terry said they were there to support all teams and “watch some great basketball.”
They traveled to Greenville because of the competition in the SEC. Chapman said it’s been easier for him and Robyn to follow the games with its growth, he said.
“It’s way more accessible,” Terry Chapman said. “That’s probably the biggest thing, especially being in Canada. For example, we don’t get SEC Network, even though we try to, but up north, we have our own sports network, and they’re starting to show a lot of women’s games.”
Kellie Robinson and Mia Hicks have been traveling to different SEC Women’s Basketball Tournaments for 10 years. They’ve been to Jacksonville and Nashville to cheer on South Carolina through its highs and lows. It’s since become their ritual, Robinson said.
Robinson has been following South Carolina’s women’s basketball since she graduated from the university. She’s watched the team go from having a smaller crowd when the team played at the Carolina Coliseum to selling out season tickets at Colonial Life Arena.
“It’s just good all-around basketball,” Robinson said. “And I think this year, with us adding Oklahoma and Texas, it makes [the tournament] even more competitive.”
Hopes for Gamecock title, Texas rematch
South Carolina fans in attendance were hopeful the team would be able to march to another SEC title, which it won in both 2023 and 2024. Since 2015, the championship has gone to a team besides the Gamecocks just twice, in 2019 and 2022.
Several fans said they’re hoping South Carolina will face Texas in the championship game.
The Gamecocks and the Longhorns have played each other twice this season, with each team having won on their own home floor. The two teams finished regular season play tied at the top of the SEC. South Carolina and Texas head into the tournament as the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds, respectively.
“I’m nervous, to be honest,” Young said. “I think it’s probably gonna come down to Texas and Carolina, and I’m just hoping Carolina will pull it out and beat them like they’ve already beat them before.”
This story was originally published March 7, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
