Gamecocks’ male practice squad contributes to Final Four run
They won’t get rings.
They do get pink sneakers.
“I got these last year, but I never busted them out,” South Carolina senior Kevin Clancy said. “This week, I was like, ‘OK, gotta wear them.’”
Clancy, sweaty after basketball practice, was admiring his hot-pink kicks as he gulped a Gatorade. He was the only person on the court in pink shoes, which wasn’t unusual.
At least, it wouldn’t be if he wasn’t surrounded by women.
Clancy and several other USC students are the scout team for USC’s women’s basketball squad, which wrapped its final home-court practice on Thursday and departed for Tampa, Fla., and the Final Four. You won’t find these guys in the media guide or on the bench, but they’re as vital as any coach or player.
They’re the ones who prepared the SEC champion Gamecocks for every game, volunteering their free time while being full-time students to practice against USC. “Big deal,” you’re thinking. “A bunch of guys get to play against a bunch of girls every day and are rewarded for it? Sign me up.”
This isn’t a vacation. Scout-teamers receive no financial aid or compensation. They have to abide by the same rules as an NCAA-approved student-athlete, yet get nothing but workout gear in return. And the work involved isn’t easier just because there are women on the other side.
“Probably an elbow from (Elem Ibiam),” listed senior Branden Thomas as his most memorable injury. “When I’m guarding her on the block, she has some nice moves. I catch it in the head every now and again, but I just jump back in there.”
Clancy was once crunched by Aleighsa Welch and sported a WWE-worthy cut on his face. He avoided stitches but had to get it taken care of.
“They get players like us to bang against,” Clancy said. “We don’t slow down because they’re girls – we go all out.”
The scholarship players’ attitude is apparent as soon as they get on the floor – don’t take it easy on us, because we’re not going to take it easy on you. Even assistant coach Darius Taylor, a bruiser at Michigan from 1997-00, suits up. He, like the others, receives as much as he dishes out.
“When we scrimmage in practice, it’s as game-like as possible for our practice,” Thomas said. “Our size is what I guess helps the girls the most.”
Thomas, from Greer, played basketball growing up but a knee injury his junior year short-circuited his high-school career. Clancy, from Florence, Ky., played throughout his prep career.
They heard about the practice squad in different ways. Thomas ran into coach Dawn Staley on campus one day and was telling her how much he admired what she was doing, and mentioned that he played against some of the girls during pickup games at the Strom Thurmond Wellness and Fitness Center. Staley asked if he’d like to come out for practice, and Thomas figured, “Why not?”
“They yell at us, too,” he said, good-naturedly. “They really need us to pay attention, to learn the plays of the team that we’re scouting. We come to practice, and whatever coach has the scout, we learn the plays of that team that day.”
Clancy is finishing his third year on the squad. He was part of the staff’s annual combing of the student ranks to find 10 to 12 men per season that want to practice against the women. They don’t have to have prep basketball experience, but it helps; the main criteria is being able to work around class schedules.
“Those guys, they come every day just as much as our players. When they don’t have classes, they’re here,” Staley said. “And they get treated just like one of our players. And that is, we’re hard on them when they’re not disciplined and when they’re not paying attention to the details of our opponents, we get on them. They feel very much a part of our team, and they should.”
Center Alaina Coates is no stranger to it. At Dutch Fork High School, her team used to scrimmage against the baseball team. “It wasn’t difficult, because our baseball players were bigger and stronger than us,” she said. “It was the same thing for me. It was something I’m used to, just banging around with guys.”
Coates says it’s comparable – the practice squad team is usually a bit stronger, a bit faster, a bit more physical than what they get most nights in the SEC. There can be dust-ups, just as there are between teammates.
“I would like not to get smacked in the face with arms,” she said, glancing at Clancy and Thomas, who immediately began pointing at each other. “And tripped up running past half-court.”
Indeed, reporters walked into the gym just as Clancy was tangling with A’ja Wilson. Clancy fell on his back, receiving a foot to the gut as Wilson tripped over him, but she was OK (thank goodness, the coaching staff said).
As was he (Great. Next play.)
“I feel really passionate about USC and helping the program, helping the girls in any way I can,” Thomas said. “Just being a guy, you wouldn’t think they’re as good as they are. I prefer to watch women’s basketball a little more now. The actual basketball knowledge that they have and the sets that they run, I think it’s more enjoyable.”
They didn’t get to travel to Tampa with the team, but the entire squad will be watching the games. They don’t have jerseys and nobody will ask for their autographs during a Main Street parade.
That’s OK. They know that the SEC Coach of the Year, one of the sport’s all-time greats, truly appreciates what they do, pink sneakers and all.
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This story was originally published April 3, 2015 at 11:59 AM.