‘Mentally tough’ Gamecocks overcome isolation, heartbreak in bubble to reach Final Four
When the final seconds ran out on South Carolina’s Elite Eight win over Texas in the NCAA women’s basketball tournament Tuesday, many of the familiar sights were there — players rushing the court to celebrate with teammates, a healthy dusting of confetti, a ladder to snip down the net, a trophy that sophomore Zia Cooke proudly held up for reporters to see at the postgame press conference.
But there were things missing as well. There was no band for players to dance joyfully in front of, like former stars A’ja Wilson and Kaela Davis did back in 2017. The typical hordes of cheering fans were a fraction of their usual size. And up in the stands, Cooke’s father, Stratman, couldn’t rush down to the court to embrace his daughter and congratulate her and the rest of the Gamecocks on fulfilling their dream of making the Final Four.
It was a moment filled with joy and elation, and as the Gamecocks head into Friday’s semifinal against Stanford, that excitement continues. But behind the scenes, there have been sacrifices and challenges, big and small.
INSIDE THE NCAA BUBBLE
For more than two weeks now, the Gamecocks have lived out of hotels in San Antonio, Texas. Their main activities are simple: Eat, sleep, practice — and play Uno. The players picked up the card game two years ago when many of them first arrived on campus, and they’ve continued to play into this year, using it to pass the time while waiting for COVID testing, Cooke told The State.
There have been some excursions along the way — a boat ride along the River Walk, a trip to the San Antonio Zoo — but some boredom is inevitable.
“Coach (Dawn Staley) tries to give us some fresh air as much as she can, but other than that we’re pretty much in the hotel, trying to find things to do,” Cooke said before the Sweet 16. “So it’s kind of boring, but we do get out a little bit.”
Beyond the monotony of bubble life, though, the need to isolate from the outside world has led to some some deeply painful moments.
“Every single one of our players have gone through something, and our coaches,” Staley said after the Elite Eight. “They probably don’t want me to say this, but I’m going to say it. We had an assistant coach lose her mother while being in this bubble. We’ve had a player lose her uncle the other day. It would have been very easy for them to say, ‘Family’s first. I got to go home. I’ve got to leave this bubble.’ ... We’ve got another one that’s going through cancer treatments.”
Assistant coach Jolette Law’s mother, Lena, died March 25 in Florence, South Carolina, just a few days before the Gamecocks faced Georgia Tech in the Sweet 16.
But no players or coaches left San Antonio. If they had, they would not have been allowed to return under NCAA rules. Even as they stayed, those challenges and worries on the outside didn’t go away. Grappling with them while winning four consecutive games, the Gamecocks showed Staley something.
“They are incredibly strong for being able to handle all of that, and to perform the way they need to perform,” Staley said. “I do think we are mentally tough, and I questioned that from time to time. But when they’re able to tangibly do what they did today, they made huge strides, and that’s all we were trying to do throughout the season, is get them to a point where we could compete for a national championship.”
At this point, however difficult the isolation of the bubble is, there is an alternative.
“I look on social media, and I see teams that have gone home and they talked about being in the bubble for 16 days or 15 days or whatever it is,” Staley said. “And I’m like, I’m thankful. I hope I’m confined for another four days.”
AT BASKETBALL GAMES
While in the “controlled environment” the NCAA has created to curb COVID-19, the only times the players have gotten to see and interact with the outside world extensively are at those four tournament games.
Yet even the games have been different. With COVID-19, the Gamecocks have become accustomed to playing in front of reduced crowds all season long — home games at Colonial Life Arena were limited to around 25% capacity. Even by those standards, the NCAA tournament has been a more subdued affair.
Through the first two rounds, only pre-approved guests of the team were allowed to attend games. Starting in the Sweet 16, the general public could buy tickets, with capacity at the Alamodome capped at 17%. The NCAA has yet to release attendance figures, but in a 77,000-seat arena, the crowds have felt small, especially compared to the screaming hordes most players grew up dreaming of.
“I can’t lie, the first two games, it was pretty tough just because we didn’t have anyone in the gym, so it was hard for us,” Cooke told The State. “But we definitely had our bench to keep us going. I’m pretty sure this experience, it can’t amount to the one where you have thousands of fans in the stands. But I definitely have been taking advantage of this experience, trying to get everything I can out of it.”
Up in the stands, Stratman Cooke feels the different energy as well. He and his wife made it down to the tournament after the first weekend, arriving late after their plane was delayed. At the games, his cheering, normally drowned out by other fans, can carry all the down to the floor, where Zia can hear every word.
“It’s the craziest thing,” Cooke said. “... That’s not how it was, even with the SEC (tournament) last year before COVID, the confetti was pouring from everywhere, and it was like, boom and fire, and it was just a whole other thing when it comes to atmosphere.”
Both Stratman and Zia are keeping perspective, though. The Gamecocks are still in the Final Four, the dream she, like so many of her teammates, has had for years.
To celebrate the milestone, the Cookes brought a T-shirt with them from Toledo, Ohio. It’s the shirt Stratman bought for Zia at the 2016 Final Four in Indianapolis. They were there with Zia’s AAU team, and she told her father at that moment, “I want to be there one day.” They brought the shirt to South Carolina’s hotel in San Antonio and had it sent to her. She’ll sign it, and Michelle, Zia’s mother, will wear it to the game Friday.
And even though they can’t interact face to face until after the tournament ends, Zia said just knowing her parents are in the arena makes a difference.
“They’re my why, so to see my parents in the stands, it’s a beautiful feeling,” Cooke said. “I call them my good luck charm at times. I feel like sometimes I play my best when I have both of them in the stands.”
OUTSIDE THE BUBBLE
All year long, South Carolina has managed to avoid any major COVID interruptions, with just one brief pause after a false positive test. Players held each other accountable and precautions were taken, but there were some breaks — after games, players could visit with parents in town, and over Christmas, they got to go home if they wanted.
Now, though, there can’t be any let-up, not when the NCAA has said it will continue to test for the novel coronavirus but will not delay any games in the case of a confirmed positive. So seeing family, even if masked and distanced, just isn’t worth the risk, both Stratman and Zia said.
“When I get back home I might be able to see them. While we’re here, we’re totally isolated from outside people,” Zia Cooke said.
For parents, that can be hard even if it is necessary. Especially at the end of games, either in triumph or despair, it’s a natural desire to be there.
“It’s heart-wrenching. That’s the only word I can come up with. It leaves a certain void there. You want to go down there, and the hug is the big moment,” Stratman said. “But she did give me her hat, and she gave me her little piece of netting to tie it on. That was really nice.”
In the meantime, parents of players from all different teams have managed to spend time together in San Antonio while watching their daughters. There’s an especially tight bond between the different families of the Gamecock players, and knowing some of the challenges that Staley described after the Elite Eight, they’ve pulled together throughout this trying season.
“No one knows what obstacles have been placed on each family, because when something this huge happens, with a pandemic and the financial things that are attached to that, you kind of ended up homing in on all your family’s obstacles and your family’s issues and problems,” Stratman Cooke said. “But it does happen with everybody.”
FINAL FOUR: South Carolina vs Stanford
What: NCAA tournament Final Four
Who: No. 1 seed South Carolina vs. No. 1 seed Stanford
When: 6 p.m. Friday
Where: Alamodome in San Antonio, Texas
Watch: ESPN
