Scott Powers could have witnessed history with his own two eyes. When UMBC shocked Virginia to become college basketball’s first No. 16 seed to take down a No. 1 in the NCAA Tournament, Powers could have been in Charlotte to watch it all unfold.
Instead he saw the Retrievers take down the Cavaliers from a hotel room in Wichita, Kansas.
Powers is the executive director for the Columbia Regional Sports Council. He’s a key figure behind the Big Dance coming to Colonial Life Arena in 2019. In order to prepare for such an occasion, he, along with three University of South Carolina staff members, was scheduled to take a site visit to the Spectrum Center last March for first- and second-round games.