This season isn’t going as Gamecock fans hoped.  In fact, the last few seasons haven’t gone as fans had hoped.  The team hasn’t made the NCAA tournament since 2004 and hasn’t won a tournament game in a much longer time than that.  There are many problems.  Today, I want to focus on the Colonial Life Arena.

The CLA was built specifically for the South Carolina Gamecocks’ basketball programs.  Well, that’s not completely accurate.  The Arena was built for, among other things, the basketball teams.  It was also built for the city of Columbia to host concerts, circuses and other entertainment events in addition to basketball.  It was hoped it could serve as a host for an NCAA tournament game.¹

In fairness to the designers of the CLA, it has served masterfully as a mixed use facility, but as a home for South Carolina Gamecocks basketball, it has failed.  That's not the leading reason for the program's recent struggles, but it may be a factor.

Attendance for basketball games hasn't increased dramatically since the last season in the Frank McGuire Arena.²  However the size of the arena has increased from 12,000 to 18,000.  This has given the impression that the basketball programs aren't supported by the fans very well.  That carries the implication that the program isn't doing well.  Whether that's true or not, it doesn't help the current players or the recruits.

Large numbers of unused seats make the arena a ripe target for an opposing fan base to take over.  Whenever Kentucky comes to town, the CLA sells out. Unfortunately for Carolina, it's mostly filled with blue.  This season when Ohio State came into town, the Gamecock fans, the players and coaches had to endure the Buckeye fans' O-H-I-O chants that made the game feel like a neutral site game.

Perception can become reality.  If our arena looks like the fans don't support the team, other fans will decide they have better things to do with their time.  If the arena feels cavernous and empty, recruits will decide to play in front of a big crowd, or at least a packed house.

Of course, there is little we can do about the arena at this point.  There's nothing physically wrong with it, and it would be way too expensive to build a smaller, more fitting arena.  But, when you find yourself watching the Gamecocks end up on the short end of the scoreboard and you find yourself wondering how this could keep happening, look at the Colonial Life Arena and remember the role it can play in the development of a program.  Remember that too when it comes time to build another facility for any of the other programs.

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¹ Due to the Confederate Flag on the State House, and later State House grounds, the NAACP has boycotted the state of South Carolina.  The NCAA has honored this boycott, and no NCAA tournament events have been held at the Arena, nor are any planned.

² The last season at the Frank McGuire Arena averaged 10,435 fans per game in 2001-02.  At the CLA the lowest season average was 9,091 in 2005-06; The highest season attendance per game was 12,941 in 2002-03.

The South Carolina Gamecocks have set their sights on Christian Hackenberg. He is the first quarterback offer for the 2013 class by USC.

Hackenberg (6-4 215) of Fork Union, VA. has offers from the likes of: Tennessee, Rutgers, Virginia, Alabama, Connecticut and Miami.

Hackenberg, labled a 4-star recruit by 247Sports, passed for 2200 yards and 21 touchdowns last season.  He is more in the pro-stlye mold but can make plays with his feet. 

In April 2011 at the National Underclassmen Combine Will Garlick wrote "The quarterbacks had to deal with a strong wind but they may have been the best looking group as a whole. Fork Union's Christian Hackenberg (6-foot-3, 200) looks the part with his size and he has all the fundamentals you want in signal caller. The combine quarterback coach said Hackenberg had great form and he was named the top sophomore quarterback."

What could play into the Gamecocks favor in this recruiting battle is the fact that Hackenberg’s father was the backup quarterback at Virginia behind Shawn Moore. But in high school he was recruited by Steve Spurrier while he was at Duke. Hackenberg now has the same opportunity his father had, and that is to play for Spurrier.

He has not set any future visits but said he will try to get to USC, Alabama, Tennessee and Virginia. Hackenberg said he has no timeline for a decision but would like to decide sometime this summer.

Surely you will hear of other names that USC is going after to be the future quarterback of the Gamecocks but this is the first name on the recruiting board.

You can follow him on Twitter - HERE and you can also view his junior highlights below:

The USC Gamecocks blew their best chance of winning an SEC game this season at Auburn yesterday.  They lost to the Tigers by the score of 63-52.  

This is the second straight year that the Gamecocks have lost to Auburn. Some national pundits considered Auburn the worst major D-1 program last year and of course they beat USC at home.  Now this.  Auburn had been labeled bottom tier and they made USC look silly on the court in their last match-up.  Well, the Gamecocks did not help themselves in the second half of that game but the point is, the Gamecocks lost to a team yet again they should have beat.

At the beginning of the season, I personally thought that Coach Horn would earn one more year to figure it out at South Carolina, but this team is bad and it doesn't look like it is going to get better anytime soon.  

Who and what is to blame for this team being as bad as they are?  I think there are a few factors that have played a major role in this team stinking it up so far.  Recruiting, developing players, style of play, and the conference talent getting better.  I continue....  

The University of South Carolina announced today that freshman safety Brison Williams has been suspended indefinitely from the football team.

“Brison Williams has been suspended for conduct detrimental to the South Carolina football team,” coach Steve Spurrier said in a statement.

Williams played in eight games in 2011 and had 11 tackles.

No other details have come to light associated with this issue as of yet. Nonetheless, this is the second member of the Gamecocks football team (Byron Jerideau was the other) to be suspended in nine days.

Combined this with losing quite a number of coaches and it is safe to say, this has not been the kind of offseason our football team needed. 

Let's hope this is the last negative headline for awhile and both players do what is necessary to re-join the team very soon as they are both key players for success in 2012.

Craig Fitzgerald, who was the strength and conditioning coach for the South Carolina Gamecocks, has left the football program to pursue other opportunities.  Likely meaning he is the next S&C coach at Penn State.  Make no mistake about it, this is a huge loss for South Carolina and the biggest coaching loss of the offseason for the Gamecocks.

Fitzgerald will be replaced by Assistant Strength and Conditioning Coach Joe Connolly.

Conn0lly, 29, joined the Gamecocks’ strength and conditioning staff in January 2009. In addition to his duties with the football team, Connolly has also worked with the Carolina track & field program.  Welcome Mr. Connolly and don't let any part of the football program degress on your watch.

Back to our point that this is the biggest loss amongst the various coaching changes USC has experienced.  Fitzgerald helped to get the USC program where it is today by taking young freshman and helping to mold their bodies into what it takes to win 11 games.  Coach Fitz was one that never got a lot of credit but he dealt with every member of the team unlike a position coach. Coach Fitz was their motivator and helped the football team reach their potential as a person first, then as a unit.  Think of the program before Fitz.  Now you get my point?

Good news is Connolly knows the system and what it takes.  Let's hope we don't see anyone sucking wind in the fourth quarter...meaning no drop off due to this change.

Here is the Gamecocks Stock Report from the week of January 18th.  Keep in mind, these reports try to gauge the sports program at the University of South Carolina.

Enjoy and comment:

Rising

Women's Bball. University of South Carolina women’s basketball reached a ranking of No. 24 in the nation recently in the Associated Press poll. It is the first national ranking for the Gamecocks since March 17, 2003. The Gamecocks are 14-4 on the season, including a 3-2 start in SEC play.  Yes they have lost two straight but reaching the ranking and starting the year out strong is to be celebrated.

Clowney. USC defensive end Jadeveon Clowney earned FWAA Freshman All-American honors recently. Clowney tallied eight sacks in his first year in Columbia. You can see the entire FWAA team here.

Football Coaching Hires.  Coach Steve Spurrier is reloading the football coaching staff with some good hires.  Recently, Everette Sands was hired to coaching the running backs, Joe Robinson was hired to coach special teams/tight ends and Kirk Botkin was hired to coach the linebackers.

Football Recruiting.  USC landed a great running back in Mike Davis recently and even got a jump on 2013 by landing one of the State's best in D.J. Park.

Flatlining

USC Men's Hoops.  The Gamecocks have lost three straight SEC games.  No matter how you try to sugar coat the situation or make excuses and try to find the positives...this is not good.

Falling

Gamecocks and Five Points.  I know kids will be kids and yes this blog has had our share of fun in Five Points but it is also about self-control even if the police has it out for you.  Let's Byron has learned the lesson and all football players use more caution when out and about because all eyes are on them.

Steve Spurrier got his man to be the next running backs coach, Everette Sands.  He comes to USC via a stint on the staff of NC State.

Sands is just the latest hire in the last week as Joe Robinson was hired to coach special teams/tight ends and Kirk Botkin was hired to coach the linebackers.

As the running backs coach, he gets to continue to mold Marcus Lattimore into a NFL-caliber running back and inherits a deep roster of talented tailbacks with the likes of Shon Carson, Brandon Wilds, Kenny Miles, incoming freshman Kendric Salley and recent 2012 pledge Mike Davis.

Sands will be very successful at USC given the talent he gets to coach as they will make him look really smart.

Sands replaces Jay Graham who left to coach at Tennessee.  Other candidates for this job included Lonnie Galloway (Wake Forest), Des Kitchings (Air Force) and Chris Brasfield (Oregon State).

USC is getting a strong recruiter and a young coach with solid talent to go with along with high respect amongst the coaching network.

Long-time South Carolina fans will remember the name of Everette Sands as he rushed for over 100 yards against USC when The Citadel defeated the Gamecocks in 1990 by the score of 38-35.

Here is more information on Everette Sands from the USC press release:

Hopefully, you have read the takeaways from the South Carolina loss to Florida in their recent basketball clash. Now here are the video highlights:

Here is the final ballot for the 2011-2012 SEC Power Poll:

The South Carolina Gamecocks lost to the Florida Gators by the score of 79-65.  The loss moves USC's overall record to 8-9 and 0-3 in SEC play.

So what did we learn in the defeat, here is our takeaways:

1.  USC needs one more offensive threat to emerge:  Bruce Ellington had 17 points and Malik Cooke had 10 points.  No one else was in double-digits. The Gamecocks need at least three threats.

2. USC must not live beyond the three point line:  USC shot 9-of-24 from 3 ball land.  Maybe make the extra pass or drive the lane to get a closer shot.  No need to put the fate of the game on a long-range shot.

3.  USC has to play better perimeter defense:  UF shot 12-of-24 from 3 ball land and all three starting guards for the Gators had double-digit scoring games.  USC needs to put forth a more solid effort defensively.  USC is rebounding well this year and shooting better but needs to play better defense.