South Carolina basketball was very good in the late 1990s. The Gamecocks made the NCAA Tournament in back-to-back seasons as a 2-seed in 1997 and as a 3-seed in 1998. However, as good as Eddie Fogler’s teams were, they could have been even better. Both Kevin Garnett and Jermaine O’Neal were South Carolina natives who ended up moving straight to the NBA out of high school instead of going to college to play. O’Neal was even a Columbia native who played his high school basketball at Eau Claire High School.
Now, Lamont Paris’ Gamecock squad will have a second chance to land Jermaine O’Neal…sort of.