David vs Goliath: Tennessee Tech’s Preparation for South Carolina as a No. 16 Seed

Live from the court, the tension is palpable as the teams prepare for a thrilling Friday matchup. South Carolina, led by Coach Dawn Staley, is ready for a challenge against a red-hot Tennessee Tech team. The Golden Eagles come into this game riding a 17-game win streak, their latest triumph coming in the OVC Tournament championship. Despite their momentum, Staley insists South Carolina’s preparation will remain unchanged, whether they’re facing Tennessee Tech or powerhouse teams like Texas.

“We’re looking forward to the challenge,” Staley shared with determination. “Very good Tennessee Tech team that’s hot; 17-game win streak is a lot. So they got some momentum coming in. We got some momentum coming in. I just hope our habits are displayed and executed much longer than theirs.”

South Carolina holds a 4-2 advantage in the all-time series against Tennessee Tech, although the Golden Eagles handed the Gamecocks a shocking defeat back in 1998 during the NCAA Tournament. Tennessee Tech stunned South Carolina with a 77-73 win as a No. 11 seed over No. 6 seed South Carolina. Both coaches laughed when recalling that history, but they’re focusing on the present.

For Tennessee Tech, the challenge of playing against South Carolina in front of a passionate home crowd isn’t lost on them. Coach Carter acknowledged the significance of the moment and their preparation for the electrifying atmosphere.

“We’re the 16 seed coming in and playing the one, so we understand what that is just in itself,” Carter said. “…This is going to be awesome. We practiced all week with crowd noises in practice, so we’re trying to prepare for that. This is going to be a great test for us. We’re such a connected team on the court anyway. So this will be awesome for us to just stick together, huddle, eye contact, everything. It’ll be big, but we’re excited for it.”

A key part of Tennessee Tech’s mental preparation for South Carolina is taking inspiration from The Obstacle is the Way, a book that the team is currently reading. Rosamond, a key player, explained the importance of breaking down the game into manageable parts.

“You learn to break it down in parts and that’s what we’ve got to do,” Rosamond emphasized. “We can’t look at it as a 40-minute assignment. We understand that it is, but we’ve got to break it down into eight, five-minute segments and focus on those first five minutes.”

Looking for advice ahead of the game, Rosamond reached out to Bobby Wilder, the head football coach at Tennessee Tech, who previously led Old Dominion to a shocking upset over Virginia Tech in 2018. Wilder compared the upset to surviving a heavyweight fight—an analogy Rosamond now applies to Friday’s game.

“You hang in and you try in those first couple rounds, you don’t get knocked out,” Rosamond said, channeling Wilder’s advice. “You got to avoid getting knocked out in those first couple rounds. I have full confidence that our kids are going to come in and they’ve not backed down from a challenge all year. We understand who they are, but we also understand who we are and we can’t forget that. We talked about that this morning, we can’t walk in here and let the crowd make us forget who we are. Let South Carolina, and their talent, and how good they are make us forget who we are.”

The energy is high as both teams get set to square off, with Tennessee Tech aiming to maintain their incredible streak and South Carolina looking to assert their dominance on home turf. This is shaping up to be an unforgettable battle.