A big gesture in exhibition vs. Allen

Frank Martin has been a constant in the Columbia community since he took over, spreading the word of South Carolina basketball and inviting South Carolinians to the party he’s throwing at Colonial Life Arena. Sunday gives him a chance to spread that message a little more, and to offer a brief respite from a tragic event.

The Gamecocks will honor the Charleston Nine during halftime of their exhibition against Allen on Sunday. One of the victims, Senator Clementa Pinckney, was an Allen alumnus.

“Senator Pinckney was the biggest Allen recruiter that I’ve met in my time here,” Martin said earlier this week. “You speak to him about Allen University and you could see the glow in his face.

“The decision was made a while ago to honor the nine families. We’ve invited all the AME churches in the Midlands to have their membership be a part of the game here on Sunday.”

Admission is free, and judging from the 10,011 people that came to last year’s exhibition against Benedict, it should be a lively crowd. Martin’s invitation is always the same – it’ll be a good time. Come on out.

“I would expect the fanfare that’s going on in the community right now with basketball in general, I would expect a bunch of people to show up to come watch our guys play,” Martin said. “And obviously, the proximity of Allen and their fan base, they get excited to come into our building and play the Gamecocks.”

USC hosted the Tigers last year and USC Aiken the year before, with a regular-season game against Coker last year and one against Francis Marion this year. It’s a natural tie that Martin wants to keep extending – many of the state’s smaller schools have South Carolina natives on the roster. They should have a chance to play in a big arena against the big state school.

“That just kind of made no sense to me,” Martin thought when informed USC had never played Benedict and Allen despite the two campuses being a few miles from CLA. “I think there’s some people that thought, ‘Well, that game has no interest.’ Eleven thousand people later, a whole lot of fun in that arena last year.”

Martin and his team rediscovered their enjoyment of the game last year after a bad January threatened to sap all the goodwill from a solid start. Struggling in the SEC with an injury-riddled squad, USC bonded after the suspensions of two players and surged to the finish line. Two wins in the SEC tournament clinched the first overall winning season in six years and when Martin added McDonald’s All-American P.J. Dozier and a strong recruiting class, excitement grew.

The Gamecocks were picked seventh in the SEC in preseason voting, their highest predicted finish in years. National pundits are labeling them sleepers. Sunday is a glimpse of what could be a great season.

Although the game is secondary to helping Allen and the state heal from one of the worst moments in its history.

“Obviously with Allen and Senator Pinckney’s tie there, it’s something we’ve been putting together,” Martin said. “So we can talk about it all week and just like last year for Benedict, hopefully have a great crowd in there and continue to address the unfortunate situation that took place that day this past summer, but all the good that’s happened since then.”

Follow on Twitter at @DCTheState

This story was originally published November 7, 2015 at 9:04 PM with the headline "A big gesture in exhibition vs. Allen."