Basketball excitement on full display in Spartanburg
There’s an increased sense of excitement around the men’s basketball program after making the program’s first Final Four less than a month ago. It showed Thursday night in Spartanburg in a spring meeting orchestrated by the Gamecock Club.
Over 100 Gamecock fans packed the Lodge in Spartanburg to hear head men’s basketball coach Frank Martin speak. This kind of excitement is nothing new, Martin said, and has been building since he took the program over five seasons ago.
“Our fans had started to buy in two or three years ago, and they’ve continued to buy in. Our average attendance this year was not based on our Final Four run,” he said. “It was based on the team that we’ve become over the last four years. I’m always excited to get out and meet fans and spend time with them and thank them for the way I just drove up here, for them driving down there on a midweek night to support our team.”
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Lee Thornton, Spartanburg Gamecock Club President, said he saw an uptick in attention devoted to the men’s basketball team during March when the Gamecocks were rolling through their bracket en route to Phoenix.
March Madness spilled over into April and now almost May as fans are still savoring the sweet run and are eager for next season to start.
“I think everyone’s really excited. I think a lot of people were more surprised they did what they did, myself included just a little bit because the way the end of the season looked,” Thornton said. “I think people are excited and people are really going to be looking forward to basketball season next year.”
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Martin said he spoke to a lot of fans who told him how fun the ride through the tournament was and how ready they were for the Gamecocks to return to Colonial Life Arena in 2017. It all goes back, he said, to the fans buying into the culture of the program and them devoting their time and effort to it.
“I’m a fan also. I love it when my teams win. I think they’re still super excited about something that had never happened in school history,” Martin said. “But they’re also looking forward to the future, and I think that’s the beauty of our fans. We’ve got them caring now, and now that they care they’re fully invested.”
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In Thursday’s meeting, the Ultimate Tailgaters provided the barbecue while fans ate and had a chance to get something signed and take a photo with Martin. Thornton estimated about 125-150 people were jammed in the building to hear Martin speak.
It’s an adjustment Martin had to make since fans barely showed up to his games the season he took over as head coach. Now, after five years and a Final Four run, he’s happy there’s this much excitement for the program.
“There were more people watching games at bars than were at my first game I ever coached at the arena five years ago. Fans are excited. We had a special group of guys. It didn’t just start in the Marquette game or whatever game in the NCAA Tournament. It started five years ago,” Martin said. “It’s something that’s been building over the past five years. The final four was a reward for our players, a reward for our fans. That’s stuff you sit back and tell your grandkids one day.”
Thursday's event was the tune-up for the 2017 Spurs Up Tour, which officially gets underway next week on May 2. Will Muschamp and Dawn Staley are scheduled to speak at the Catawba Fish Club in Lancaster. The cost is $20 and doors open at 6 p.m.
