South Carolina women's basketball: SEC Tournament Wrap-up

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After taking Monday off to recover, let’s wrap up all the news and notes from the SEC Tournament.

– Open locker rooms made their return after a three-year absence, and it was wonderful. You learn so much more about the players when you can talk to them one-on-one instead of sitting at a podium.

You get to find out silly things like the story behind Laeticia Amihere’s missing jersey, Aliyah Boston “snubbing” Sheila Foster (more on that later), and spring break plans. It’s also good for players because they are able to show their personalities in a way they normally can’t.

There was one team that followed the letter but not the spirit of the rule with open locker rooms, and another team that didn’t even do that. So a big thank you to South Carolina for allowing us to talk to the players, and a big thank you to the players who patiently put up with all of our questions while their postgame meals got cold.

– Open locker rooms meant we finally got to talk to Kamilla Cardoso. She had refused all season to speak to the media. After one game she even snuck out of the locker room, which is pretty tricky for a 6-7 player.

If she doesn’t want to talk, that’s her prerogative. But it’s too bad. She is smart, funny, insightful, and utterly charming. The second time I talked to her she greeted me with a big smile and “Hi!” There’s a reason why her teammates like her so much.

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– The bond between Boston and “Miss Sheila Foster” was apparent this weekend and very sweet. When Boston was chasing Foster’s double-double record she didn’t seem to know too much about Foster, but that has clearly changed.

Boston was very respectful of Foster, and Foster returned the love, cheering hard for Boston to break her career rebounds record.

“It feels really special to be able to break a record like that, especially because it’s Miss Sheila Foster. She’s also been so supportive. When I was running out of the tunnel, I guess I didn’t break it, because she was yelling, Rebound! Rebound!” Boston said. “I saw her on the way out. She wanted a hug but I wasn’t able to do it.”

I jokingly chided Boston for breaking the record and then snubbing Foster.

“I’ll see her on the way out,” Boston said. “She’s honestly so nice. I saw her before the game she was like good luck, I’ll be watching. She’s right there in the front row cheering.”

– The players have most of this week off, and a large group is going to Myrtle beach for the week. Raven Johnson, Amihere, and Cardoso appear to be the ringleaders of the trip.

“I’m going to put on my bathing suit and have fun,” Johnson said of her plans.

– While the players are at the beach, the coaches will be on the road recruiting.

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– Total attendance for this year’s SEC Tournament was 57,801, setting a new record as the most-attended SEC tournament ever.

Attendance for the final was 12,203, the third-largest crowd ever. It came just a couple hundred short of the record of 12,441. This was the first time Tennessee and South Carolina have met in the final since the Gamecocks’ fan support really took off, so the crowd size was no surprise.

Greenville has the tournament again next year, but the host of the 2025 tournament has not been announced (you might have heard about a couple of new teams joining the SEC before then). 

I have no idea if the SEC will want to move the tournament around again, perhaps to one of the western states to involve Texas, Oklahoma, and Arkansas, or if Greenville wants to continue to host. 

If Greenville does want to continue hosting, the city’s pitch should just be a recording of  Sunday’s game. During a second-half timeout, the PA played “Rocky Top.” The Lady Vol fans began to sing along but were drowned out by boos. Then “Sandstorm” started, and the music was drowned out by the FAMs, all standing and screaming. You don’t normally get an atmosphere like that during a tournament game.

– With Sunday’s win, Dawn Staley has reached several performance bonuses in her contract. On top of the $3.0 million annual salary, Staley has earned 

$15,000 for winning 11 or more SEC regular season games,

$100,000 for winning the SEC Regular Season and Tournament Championships, 

$25,000 for being named SEC Coach of the Year, and

$25,000 for an appearance in the NCAA Tournament (USC received the SEC automatic bid).

It’s almost certain she will collect an additional $15,000 for being ranked in the final AP or Coaches Poll (the final AP poll is next Monday). The $25,000 for appearing in the tournament goes up each round beginning with the Sweet 16, topping out at $500,000 for winning the national championship.

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