Gamecock basketball legend Sheila Foster still one of program’s biggest fans
Gamecock great Sheila Foster has remained a passionate South Carolina women’s basketball fan years after she set her own records for the Gamecocks from 1978-82.
Foster cheered for Dawn Staley’s top-ranked South Carolina during the team’s run in Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena for the 2022 SEC Women’s Basketball Tournament.
She tries to make it to weekend games to lend her voice to one of the nation’s loudest crowds for women’s college basketball.
“If it’s Friday, Saturday or Sunday, I’ll be there,” Foster told The State. “They’ll hear me.”
Foster, 61, was the Gamecocks’ leading scorer until 2018, when A’ja Wilson passed her record. She remains South Carolina’s leader in career rebounds and career double-doubles as a top center/forward in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Foster’s No. 53 jersey has been retired by South Carolina. She was inducted into the school’s athletics Hall of Fame in 2002. She was also honored as an SEC Trailblazer this year, in conjunction with the conference’s celebration of Title IX’s 50th anniversary.
Foster was honored at halftime of South Carolina’s SEC tournament quarterfinals game against Arkansas.
“This program’s getting long and strong,” she said. “It’s beautiful. We’ve got some fantastic and great players, great coaches. It makes other schools want to come and watch us.”
Foster still spends time around the Boiling Springs High School girls basketball program near her hometown of Spartanburg, South Carolina. She retired in 2021 after coaching with the Bulldogs for 15 years to focus on her health.
Foster is in her eighth year of remission from breast cancer and was hospitalized in July 2020 with pneumonia in both lungs. She’s also had both knees replaced, but she said she’s feeling good and hopes to continue to cheer South Carolina on whenever she’s able to make it to games.
“I’m doing good with all of those prayers,” Foster said. “You can’t break a prayer chain. The longer, the stronger.”
Foster said she is a proud alumna of South Carolina and has enjoyed watching Staley’s program.
Staley has taken the Gamecocks to three Final Four appearances, a national championship in 2017 and the top overall seed in this year’s NCAA tournament. It’s only the start for Staley’s legacy in Columbia, Foster said.
“I’m glad I chose the University of South Carolina,” she said. “I wouldn’t change it for the world. I can say (Staley is) on a roll. It’s just the beginning for her.”
This story was originally published March 24, 2022 at 11:00 AM.
