Gamecocks honor 24-year head softball coach Joyce Compton with jersey retirement
Hall of Fame softball coach Joyce Compton has never liked to be the center of attention. She’d prefer to give credit to her players and her assistant coaches.
But on Saturday afternoon — like it or not — the spotlight found her.
The Gamecocks softball program honored the retired 24-year head coach with a jersey retirement before Saturday’s game against Ole Miss. On the left-field wall, USC unveiled a white pinstriped jersey with the name “Compton” underneath it, making the long-time head coach a permanent fixture at Carolina Softball Stadium.
The former coach stood in the center of the diamond, encircled by former and current Gamecocks, before throwing out the game’s first pitch.
“I’m just glad to get it over with,” Compton joked, smiling. “I really have never liked this kind of stuff or to have spotlight on me, to be honest.
“Obviously, it’s such an honor to be thought of that way. My name is up there, but it’s really all the players that helped put it up there. It’s not just me by any means..”
The winningest coach in South Carolina history, Compton coached the Gamecocks from 1987 until she retired in 2010 and was a key figure in the SEC’s adoption of softball in the mid-1990s.
Before that point — and before Title IX — the softball program was in a precarious position, and the sport was briefly dropped by USC in 1991 before being restored months later. Compton said her team lost a couple of players during that stretch but was able to rebound. Now in the 50th year of Title IX, the sport has grown by leaps and bounds at South Carolina, in the SEC and beyond.
“Let’s face it, that’s why women’s sports are where they are right now, because of Title IX,” Compton said. “It was something that was definitely needed.”
Once the SEC adopted softball in 1997, Compton’s teams truly began to flourish. Her 1997 team set a then-NCAA record with 38 consecutive wins en route to 63-5 season and an appearance in the Women’s College World Series. Pitcher Trinity Johnson was a star on that team who won national player of the year and still holds the NCAA record with 12 consecutive shutouts. Her No. 11 USC jersey was retired in 2019 and is displayed on the right-field wall.
Compton led her team to 13 NCAA tournaments and two Women’s College World Series, and she won SEC coach of the year twice. She produced 28 All-Americans during her tenure, and she said the relationships she still has with her former players is what she treasures the most. She was able to see several of those players at the ballpark Saturday.
“The relationships with the players and how you still have kids contacting me and staying up with you, knowing what’s going on, I think that’s probably one of the most rewarding things as coaches,” Compton said. “And then watching them mature and grow.”
This story was originally published April 23, 2022 at 4:48 PM.
