South Carolina has worn Nike before. A look at the Gamecocks’ gear history
South Carolina became the star of college athletics sports apparel news on Thursday.
USC is expected to jump from Under Armour to Nike, pending approval from the Board of Trustees on Friday, The State confirmed through USC sources. The news was first reported by The Post and Courier.
Under Armour and South Carolina have become nearly synonymous with one another in the last nearly two-decades. But the Gamecocks haven’t always been outfitted by Under Armour.
Some sports at South Carolina have actually been outfitted in years past by Nike — the very brand the Gamecocks are expected to announce a new apparel deal with.
Here’s a look at some of South Carolina’s athletic apparel history:
Under Armour: 2007-2026
Under Armour’s run as South Carolina’s outfitter is expected to end next year after an almost 20-year run.
The company started outfitting the Gamecocks in 2007 and was one of Under Armour’s first all-school partnerships. The first football-only six-year deal was worth approximately $10.8 million annually, with USC receiving $600,000 in cash and $1.2 million in product per year.
The school signed a 10-year, $71 million deal with Under Armour in 2016. When that 10-year deal was signed, it was the 10th- most lucrative apparel deal in college athletics.
A stint with Russell Athletic
Before Under Armour, South Carolina was a Russell Athletic school.
The Gamecock football team had a four-year deal with Russell Athletic that ended in 2007. The last full season South Carolina wore Russell Athletic uniforms was in 2006.
South Carolina’s contract with Russell Athletics paid the school as much as $450,000 per year and covered just four sports, according to an article from The State in 2007.
Return of the swoosh?
The South Carolina men’s basketball and women’s soccer teams were both outfitted by Nike at one point in their respective program’s history.
That time with Nike came after the Gamecocks’ stint with Converse in the 2000s for the men’s basketball team. The USC men also wore Reebok Pumps under coach Steve Newton in the early 1990s.
The women’s soccer team also wore Nike during the 2000s until 2007 when it switched to Under Armour.
Other athletic companies in the mix
Beyond South Carolina’s deal with Russell Athletic, there aren’t necessarily any records of who outfitted the Gamecocks on the field and the court.
Most of that is because the landscape of college athletics has changed rapidly in the last few decades — let alone the last five years.
For example, take a look at old pictures of South Carolina football legends Sterling Sharpe and George Rogers and you’ll be hard pressed to find one where their jerseys had brand logos on them.
That being said, The State found a few references to other brands in USC media guides and even its own archives.
- The South Carolina football team had a two-year shoe deal with Reebok at one point, according to an article The State published in 2007.
- Converse was once a sponsor for South Carolina basketball, according to an article The State published in 1998.
- South Carolina men’s soccer wore Adidas uniforms for a large portion of its history. Based on pictures from the team’s media guide, that lasted from the late-1980s to the mid-2000s.
This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 3:22 PM.
