South Carolina sports teams and athletes had an active summer break, seeing new coaches arriving on campus, professional debuts and preseason practices starting up. Here's what the Gamecocks were up to while students were away.
Football
South Carolina football put its best foot forward in fall camp to improve the team before the team's season opener against the University of North Carolina on Sept. 2. Head coach Shane Beamer described the Gamecocks' preseason as "unbelievable" heading into game one.
"It's been an awesome summer from a personal standpoint — good family time and some fun trips — but this is what we have all been looking forward to," Beamer said. "From a football standpoint, (it was an) unbelievable summer that our team just had."
New faces, like freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers, are experiencing just their first camp in Columbia but making quick progress. The coaching staff has indicated that the Florence native will likely spend this year learning from and observing redshirt senior quarterback Spencer Rattler, but they say he has impressed with his speed and talent.
"We say 'love above all else,' which is giving everything you can in order to help the team," Sellers said. "Ultimately, that just pushes us every day just to do whatever it takes to help the team."
Gamecock football also welcomed a new director of nutrition, Yimy Queipo Rodriguez, who players have credited with helping the team make physical improvements ahead of the 2023 season. Rodriguez, formerly the coordinator and performance dietitian for the Chicago Cubs, joined the South Carolina staff ahead of summer camp.
"We have multiple players on our team who increased their max on the squat 100 pounds just from May to last week, and that's remarkable. The average person went up 50 pounds just on the squat over the summer," Beamer said. "Thirty-one of our players ran faster this summer than they've ever run in any time in their time as a Gamecock football athlete."
Men's tennis
Senior Toby Samuel and senior Connor Thomson represented South Carolina tennis at the most prestigious court in the world in July. The pair played in the Gentlemen's Doubles tournament at the 2023 Wimbledon Championships as wildcards, while Samuel also competed in the singles qualifying event.
“Wimbledon is sort of the pinnacle of our sport — it's a little bit like the Masters in golf — and to have two guys that are currently on the team be able to go play that, it was a heck of an opportunity for them and great experience,” head coach Josh Goffi said. “As a coach, you're just sitting on the sideline just being extremely proud of the year and the work that they've done.”
Samuel and Thomson made their debut in the first round of the doubles event and earned a victory over Argentine Pedro Cachin and German Yannick Hanfmann to advance to the second round, where they were eliminated by the fifth-seeded duo of Mexican Santiago González and Frenchman Édouard Roger-Vasselin.
Samuel, ranked No. 543, was considered the underdog in his singles match against No. 291 Antoine Bellier from Switzerland. Against the odds, Samuel defeated Bellier 6-4, 7-6 before falling in the next round.
"I think I went out there with no pressure, just played my game and played loose, and in the end, I came out on top — which is amazing,” Samuel said. "You can't play your best if you're not enjoying it. That's why I started playing and I'm going to keep enjoying it throughout my career, as that helps me play my best."
Over the summer, Gamecock men's tennis also welcomed new associate head coach Johnny Parkes to the team. Parkes formerly served as the lead national coach for USTA Player Development and brings over a decade of experience as a tennis academy instructor and conditioning coach.
Women's basketball
Following their championship careers at South Carolina, forward Aliyah Boston and guard Zia Cooke moved on to the WNBA over the summer and have made waves as rookies in the league.
So far, Boston has averaged 14.7 points, 8.2 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game in her first year with the Indiana Fever, including helping the team snap it's record-breaking 20-game losing streak.
The top pick in the WNBA Draft in April, Boston became just the sixth rookie to earn a start in the WNBA All-Star Game over the summer.
“I never thought I’d be an All-Star my rookie season,” Boston said. “It’s just a blessing to be in this position right now.”
Cooke also came out with a bang in her debut for the Los Angeles Sparks, scoring 14 points in her first 15 minutes on the court.
For the season, Cooke has averaged 4.5 points per game and has played in all but one Sparks game, predominantly coming off the bench.
Track and Field
Gamecock track and field had a major offseason in terms of welcoming new coaches to the team, starting with head coach Tim Hall.
Hall was welcomed as head coach on June 23 as the replacement for Curtis Frye, who led the program for 27 years. Hall comes to Columbia after a five-year stint as associate head coach over sprinters at the University of Kentucky. Over his career, Hall has coached an Olympic Gold Medalist, five Olympians, 11 NCAA Champions and 14 SEC Champions.
“No one is going to work harder than Gamecock track and field," Hall said. "We’re going to try to move the needle every day to be one percent better to get this program back to its prominence and relevance in the SEC and NCAA rankings.”
Hall also brought a new coaching staff to Columbia this summer. Shawn Jackson will join the Gamecocks as the new jumps coach, Brock Moreaux takes over as the assistant coach of distance/cross country and Morrie Turner comes on as an additional assistant coach under Hall.
Swimming and Diving
Junior diver Sophie Verzyl represented USC and Team USA at the World University Games in Chengdu, China, this summer. Verzyl placed third overall in the 1-meter, 3-meter and women's team diving events.
“I’m so grateful for this once in a lifetime opportunity," Verzyl said in an Instagram post. "It was incredible. I loved meeting so many international friends and experiencing such a rich culture.”
Head coach Jeff Poppell also announced over the summer that the team would be joined by seven new transfer swimmers when its season kicks off in September. The new additions include two additions to the men's roster and five new members of the women's team.