Sin comes to the Garden

Sindarius Thornwell calmly stepped onto the court at Madison Square Garden, pulling his jersey over his T-shirt and preparing to hoist a few jumpers during South Carolina’s open practice Thursday.

No big deal. Just a near-gameday shootaround.

Come Friday, redemption.

The SEC Player of the Year spoke in the preseason about how he’d already circled a Dec. 12 game at MSG against Seton Hall, saying he’d always wanted to play in the Garden and how it’d be a dream come true. Then the date rolled around and Thornwell was allowed to travel, practice and shoot around, but not play as part of his six-game suspension.

“When we played there earlier in the season, it killed me, you know?” Thornwell said this week. “My shootaround, when we had shootaround that day, that was like my game. I was like a kid on the court.”

Perhaps that’s why Thursday wasn’t a lot of smiling and goofing around for Thornwell – he’d been here before. And it’s all business on Friday when the Gamecocks take on Baylor in the Sweet 16.

“We didn’t pull one out last time, but we’re excited to be back, especially with our leader, Sin,” said P.J. Dozier, referencing the 67-64 loss to the Pirates.

The pageantry was noticeable. USC’s band broke into “New York, New York” during practice, and the Knicks and Rangers banners still fluttered from the rafters. In the same place where Willis Reed inspired a multitude to take one for the team, Wayne Gretzky retired, Joe Frazier handed Muhammad Ali his first loss and Hulkamania was created, the Gamecocks got ready for their next biggest game of the year.

“You see so many famous clips and highlights, plays that people made in the Garden,” Thornwell said. “Growing up, always loving basketball, the Garden was always a place where I feel like every basketball kid dreamed of playing.”

Thornwell finally gets his chance on Friday.

This story was originally published March 23, 2017 at 5:08 PM with the headline "Sin comes to the Garden."