For decades, South Carolina’s basketball tradition has been dwarfed by what we see in North Carolina.
In the 1960s and ‘70s, Frank McGuire built USC into a major power, but NC State won a national championship and the ACC rose after the Gamecocks disastrous departure: Tom Burleson, David Thompson, Phil Ford, Rod Griffin, James Worthy, Brad Daugherty, Michael Freakin’ Jordan.
And that was before Duke got seriously cranked up.
Not that South Carolina’s tradition was pathetic or anything, but Clemson was the best team most years and South Carolina was just hit and miss. The NIT was a typical high point.