MORNING BUZZ: Graham testing the 2016 waters with 2 S.C. hires + Clyburn has raised $2 million for S.C. colleges

FIRST ON BUZZ: Graham’s 2016 testing-the-waters effort hires 2

U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham’s 2016 presidential “testing the waters” team has added two S.C. staffers – both veterans of the Seneca Republican’s Senate campaigns.

Shell Suber and Caroline O’Neal, both of Columbia, have joined Security Through Strength as the S.C. political director and finance director. The political is group raising money to help Graham determine whether to pursue a White House run.

Clyburn says he has raised nearly $2 million for S.C. colleges (+ video)

U.S. Rep. Jim Clyburn said Thursday that he has raised nearly $2 million to support endowments at universities and historically black colleges in South Carolina.

Meeting with reporters, Clyburn said he decided to release the fund-raising numbers after reading comments by critics saying S.C. State’s alumni must do more to help the struggling Orangeburg school.

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Buzz Click: Having daddy in stands calms Coates

South Carolina sophomore center Alaina Coates seems like a different player this season, it is not only because she has a season’s experience under her belt. Coates, a self-professed daddy’s girl, has something extra now that her father, Command Sgt. Maj. Gary Coates, is in the stands watching her play.

Gary Coates was deployed to Kuwait during most of the 2013-14 season as his daughter made the transition to college basketball.

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This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 7:15 AM with the headline "MORNING BUZZ: Graham testing the 2016 waters with 2 S.C. hires + Clyburn has raised $2 million for S.C. colleges."