South Carolina’s FAMs bring the energy every game, especially for NCAAs
Before heading back into the tunnel Sunday evening at Colonial Life Arena, South Carolina head coach Dawn Staley had a parting message for the crowd.
“It’s not over yet,” she said.
In a game where the Gamecocks had a less-than-stellar shooting performance of 30% from the field, the rambunctious, energetic crowd — affectionately known as the “FAMs” by Staley and the program — gave the team life in the 49-33 NCAA tournament victory over Miami.
A Kamilla Cardoso block was met by the appropriate response that echoed throughout Colonial Life Arena. And when junior forward Aliyah Boston hit two free throws late in the fourth quarter to improve her double-double streak to 26 games, the FAMs’ cheering almost blew the roof off.
“Our FAMs are great,” said Boston, who had 10 points and 16 rebounds. “They’re super loud, and they keep the energy in the building. They just continue to pump us up, no matter what happens. If they think the ref made a bad call, you’ll hear it. And then if you think something good happened, you’ll hear it, and so, it’s just great energy.”
The level of noise didn’t go unnoticed by South Carolina’s opponent, either. Miami head coach Katie Meier gave props to the official crowd of 9,817.
“Great turnout by the fans in the community. It really fueled them,” Meier said of the Gamecocks. “I’ve been in the business long enough to take a pause and look up and just say, ‘Wow, this is pretty amazing. This much love, this much support.’ And, it’s happening all across the country now, so I think it’s fantastic.”
As the overall top seed, South Carolina earned the right to host the first two rounds of the NCAA tournament. Staley challenged Gamecock supporters to show out, and they did.
“They always have your back no matter what,” USC guard Brea Beal said. “The atmosphere gets you going, it gets you pumped. It gets you wanting to run through a brick wall. Like, that’s just how it feels with having them out there and it just feels great.”
The Gamecocks have led the nation in fan attendance for seven straight seasons — discounting the 2020-21 COVID year.
For 2021-22, South Carolina averaged 12,431 fans per game at Colonial Life Arena. Iowa State was second at 9,760, then Iowa with 7,839.
Now, the USC program is headed to its eighth straight Sweet 16 appearance less than three hours away in Greensboro. Staley recalled how well South Carolina supporters traveled in 2015 when the Gamecocks appeared in the Greensboro region.
That year, the squad beat North Carolina 67-65 before downing Florida State 80-74 to advance to the Final Four. The Gamecocks fell to Notre Dame in the next game 66-65 and ended the season 34-3.
Seven years later, South Carolina is hoping to get through Greensboro unscathed again with the help of its FAMs.
“I thought our FAMs did a great job at traveling and creating an atmosphere that was advantageous to us,” Staley said of the 2015 crowd. “It’s driving distance. I think some of our FAMs had already purchased tickets well before they knew we were going to be in the Greensboro region. Wishful thinking. A lot of times that doesn’t turn out the way you plan it, but I’m happy that our fans don’t lose money. … I hope it ends in a way that it did in 2015.”
This story was originally published March 20, 2022 at 7:45 PM.
