COLUMBIA S.C.
Kevin Joyce thrilled fans at the old Carolina Coliseum for
three seasons with his tenacious play and high-scoring style, finishing as one
of the greatest to take the court at South Carolina.
His No. 43 jersey was retired and he remains a revered name
among Gamecock supporters. However, Joyce hadn’t seen the Gamecocks’ modern,
5-year-old Colonial Center
until walking in there this past Tuesday.
And that’s an example, coach Dave Odom says with emphasis,
why the Gamecocks’ plan to honor 100 years of basketball is so crucial to the
program’s future.
Odom has long believed honoring a program’s past gives
current players a sense of pride and a connection to something bigger than
themselves.
At South Carolina, the task has been as daunting as making
the NCAA tournament, which Odom’s Gamecocks have done just once in six season.
“I was struck by the separation that existed, at least
from the surface, between the different generations of basketball
players,” the coach said. “It was almost cavernous.”
