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I’ve never had much criticism of Aliyah Boston as a basketball player. If there was one, it would be that she isn’t “mean” enough, which channels from my experience covering A’ja Wilson when she was here.

Google her name and you’ll get a picture of Wilson smiling. She’s very photogenic, knew the camera would always be on her and could grin her way through anything. Yet that smile covered an interior that would cut your heart out to win.

They’ve said for every game in every season, they don’t look ahead. The biggest job is always just ahead in the next game, not the one two or three or 10 beyond that. They said it this week, these No. 1 Gamecocks.

They fibbed.

COLUMBIA – Round-trip to Norman, please. Just a few days after discussions of an early dismissal for Texas and Oklahoma from the Big 12 seemed flatter than an Odessa horizon, a compromise was reached late Thursday night. Due to a mere $100 million in exit fees the conference will collect, the Big 12 bid adios to the Sooners and Longhorns as the SEC opened its (very profitable) doors.

Coming in 2024, two new SEC schools, a brand-new football schedule, scheduling model and a 12-team College Football Playoff.

Get updates on position battles, game previews, mailbags, recruiting, and more.

If you remember last year's list of Clemson invitees to the NFL scouting combine, it was a particularly small group. Cornerbacks Andrew Booth Jr. and Mario Goodrich were joined by receiver Justyn Ross and linebacker Baylon Spector. And that was it.

Plus, there wasn't much going on for that quartet. Ross, in the process of recovering from a foot surgery, didn't fully participate. Goodrich was dealing with pain in his ribs and pulled out after the 40-yard dash. Booth was held out by a quadriceps injury. So if you were that obsessed Clemson fan tuned to NFL Network to catch the Tigers doing 40-yard dashes and three cone drills, you were very disappointed.

For today's Post and Courier, we featured Clemson guard Brevin Galloway, who had a bizarre medical situation last week but capitalized on the situation to earn some name, image, and likeness (NIL) dollars.

To be clear, it isn't really "our" CAB.The main purpose of the Clemson Athletics Branding institute (which you could actually pronounce "Cabby," if they left the "I" in the acronym) is to help athletes at Clemson maximize their name, image, and likeness (NIL) opportunities. Dabo Swinney likes the "cab" analogy because the university is providing athletes a "lift" to their NIL potential -- but they have to put in the work, or the cab fare, to get there.

Gene Sapakoff column: Chris Singleton, former Charleston Southern and minor league baseball player and son of murdered Mother Emanuel AME Church parishioner Sharonda Coleman-Singleton, is on an 11-state reading tour to promote literacy with a message of faith.

SUMMERVILLE — Summerville High’s wrestling program advanced to the Class AAAAA state finals on Wednesday night, beating River Bluff by 39-24 to capture the Lower State title in front of a home crowd.

Gene Sapakoff column: Steve Laprad is back as Fort Dorchester High School head coach just as former players Carlos Dunlap of the Kansas City Chiefs and Robert Quinn of the Philadelphia Eagles are set to face off in the first Super Bowl for each of the former high school teammates.

Dorchester District 2 Superintendent Shane Robbins plans to hold meetings with Fort Dorchester football coach Steve LaPrad, who offered his resignation after a locker room video circulated that appeared to show him using profanity and disparaging another school in the county while talking to his players. 

DORCHESTER — Woodland High School offensive tackle Kam Pringle, the state’s top-rated 2024 prospect, made his verbal commitment to the University of South Carolina on Sunday afternoon in his school’s gymnasium.

In a showdown of private-school state title contenders in Class AAAA, the visiting First Baptist Hurricanes used a decisive 13-point run to open the fourth quarter and knocked off the Porter-Gaud Cyclones, 71-59, on Friday night.

Legendary football coach Dr. Jerry Brown will not return as the coach at Berkeley High School in Moncks Corner. Brown was informed by district and school personnel of the decision to make a change on Tuesday.

Aside from commitments from transfer lineman Sidney Fugar (6-6, 330) of Western Illinois and linebacker Javon Willis (6-2, 220) of Ole Miss, the Gamecocks’ staff had two other transfer prospects in for visits over the weekend.

GOOSE CREEK — Facing a three-game losing streak and on the road against the second-ranked team in Class AAAAA, the Summerville boys basketball team got back on track in its final non-region game of the 2022-23 season.

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