The Gamecock baseball team drops two out of three to the Florida Gators, speculation on Frank Martin's potential future in Columbia becomes overexuberant, the Stanford (Lady?) Cardinal defeat the Lady Gamecocks in the Sweet Sixteen, the football team holds its first scrimmage, and Connor vows to write some Martin fan fiction starring Dawn Staley.

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The Lady Gamecocks put up an admirable fight for most of the game, but the Stanford Cardinal took over in the second half en route to a relatively comfortable 76-60 win. Nekka Ogwumike led all scorers with an incredible 39 points, while La'Keisha Sutton led Carolina with 18.

The Gamecocks came to play in this one, getting after it on defense and the offensive glass. However, we simply didn't have an answer inside for Ogwumike, who had her way with us almost every time she got the ball. There was some hope early in the second half, when Ogwumike picked up her third foul, that we'd be able to get her into foul trouble. However, the fourth foul never materialized, and Ogwumike proceeded to complete one of the best games of her illustrious career.

This game shows what the Lady Gamecocks need to take the next step. Without an elite center, or at least a good one who can go toe-to-toe defensively with players like Ogwumike, we're going to have trouble moving from the category of good teams to the elite category occupied by the Stanford's of the world. Dawn Staley had hoped that Kelsey Bone would be that player, but things didn't work out with Bone, who will lead her Texas A&M Aggies today against Maryland. Needless to say, this game might have been much different had we had Bone on our side, and Staley is undoubtedly searching for her next shot at a player like that as we speak.

That said, this team has nothing to be ashamed of. It took a great step forward with its play in the tournament. We lose some key players going into next season, so there may be a transitional period ahead, but given the way Staley has built this program, I have no doubt she'll have us back in this position in no time.

TDF - Gonna rock it up, roll it up, do it all, have a ball.

The Search

Wichita Eagle: Bob Lutz shares his feelings about Frank Martin and South Carolina on his blog.

Kansas City Star: Frank Martin talks about South Carolina, Jamar Samuels on CBS. Whatever Coach Martin may have said, the most important thing he didn't say was "no."

Topeka Capital-Journal: Austin Meek: Cats, Frank must clear the air.

Post & Courier: Marshall to remain at Wichita State.

Gamecock Women's Hoops

Gamecocksonline: Gamecock Run Ends in Sweet 16. Congrats to Dawn Staley, her staff and most especially all of the Gamecock seniors, particularly La'Keisha Sutton and Markeshia Grant who put the team on their backs most of the season.

Gamecock Central: USC ends season in Sweet 16. Nothing to be ashamed about here.

San Jose Mercury-News: Stanford women rout South Carolina to reach Elite Eight. The view from Northern Cali.

Rock Hill Herald: Top-seeded Stanford women beat S Carolina 76-60. The main A.P. story.

Gamecock Baseball

Anderson Independent-Mail: USC drops series to Gators, falls to 1-5 in SEC. All we can do is tip our hat to the Gators and concentrate on working our way out of the cellar.

Post & Courier: Gators nip USC to capture series.

Ron Morris: Series reveals where to fix gaps.

Gene Sapakoff: Road show offers more USC tests .

Gamecock Football

Gamecocksonline: Gamecocks Hold First Scrimmage on Saturday. Some can't-miss video interviews with Coach Spurrier, Coach Ward and K.J. Brent, along with a photo gallery.

Post & Courier: Gamecocks' search for the next Alshon under way.

Sportstalkgolive: USC holds first major scrimmage of spring (AUDIO).

Sporting News: Spurrier looks to spring to sort out offense.

Loose Feed

Al.com: With Michigan and Ohio State leading way, Big Ten may be on its way back.

NBC Sports: Ben Kercheval posts Texas A&M AD on Big 12: ‘I regret that it is coming to an end.’

Kansas City Star: NCAA president would like to be done with one-and-done rule. I absolutely agree. Outside of UK no one in the SEC has to worry too much about one-and-done players, but the practice hurts college hoops overall, which ultimately hurts the NBA. The NCAA and NBA should collaborate to adopt a rule similar to college baseball, where after high school a player can elect to go pro or college - but if he goes the collegiate route, he stays for three years before he can declare for the draft. It will build greater fan interest at all levels of basketball, and promote more parity (by preventing top programs like UK, UNC, Syracuse, etc., from opening up their doors every year to the next gaggle of one-and-done guys).

The Gamecocks take on the Cardinal out west (hence the late start for those of us here in the East) for an opportunity to advance. Go 'Cocks!

The word from Wichita is that Gregg Marshall is staying put. From what we can gather, he and Wichita State have come to terms - at least in principle - on some contract changes (presumably more money). He is no longer a candidate for any coaching vacancy.

The news comes as a bit of a surprise to some. Not so much that Marshall will remain in Wichita, which was always a possibility - but that in their opinion South Carolina never appeared to have made a serious run for his services. For example, Wichita Eagle sports columnist Bob Lutz has expressed some puzzlement over why USC never made an overture to Marshall. Likewise, The State's top basketball reporter, Andy Shain, has openly questioned whether USC ever approached Marshall at all.

The inescapable implication, from their perspective at least, is that Marshall may have been willing, but that South Carolina Athletic Director Eric Hyman passed him by.

On the other hand, the Post & Courier's Sports Editor Gene Sapakoff thinks it simply boiled down to the fact that Carolina would not meet Marshall''s salary ask - saying that Marshall wants to be wanted, but that Hyman wouldn't or couldn't pay him $1.8m or higher for seven years. Likewise, 107.5 The Game's Heath Cline sees this as Marshall withdrawing his name from a job he wasn't getting right now (though Cline seems to be saying it had more to with contract length than just dollars and cents).

It's likely we will never know for sure whether Eric Hyman made a meaningful effort at hiring Gregg Marshall. Either way, the revelation that Marshall is out of the hunt for the USC opening is bit of melancholy news - at least for me. And for some of you, too, I suspect.

After all, Marshall has been on our minds for years.

More than a few Gamecock fans thought that Marshall - the former Winthrop coach who had just taken over the Wichita State Shockers in 2007 - was the best candidate for the USC job when it opened up in 2008 following Dave Odom's "retirement." With all his success in Rock Hill (heading up a program he built from nothing into a giant-killer and perennial NCAA Tournament team) plus his Palmetto State roots, the five-time Big South Coach of the Year seemed tailor-made to succeed Odom. Marshall had even once been quoted as saying South Carolina was his "dream job."

Of course, Eric Hyman ultimately chose Darrin Horn - then a "hot" mid-major coaching prospect fresh from a Sweet 16 run with his Western Kentucky University Hilltoppers. The conventional wisdom was that Hyman held some sort of personal antipathy for Marshall; in fact, that still remains the c.w. after four years - which, again, is something we will probably never know is true or false.

Even with Horn at the helm, many USC fans continued to invoke Gregg Marshall's name as the one guy who might be able - and willing - to reverse the meager fortunes of Gamecock hoops, which had gone into steep decline after Horn's first season in Columbia. As the Shockers seemed to improve each year under Marshall - compared to the way the Gamecocks seemed to regress under Horn - the Greenwood native was the the guy we wanted on the sidelines at the Colonial Life Arena in place of the passionate but apparently star-crossed former Hilltopper.

Where Horn didn't seem to "get" us, we felt that Marshall would. Where Horn seemed to alienate the local basketball community, we felt sure Marshall would right the ship. We were Marshall's dream job, after all. For many of us, Marshall became our dream coach.

In fact, so many USC partisans talked openly about Marshall as a "savior," that a fair-sized and vocal minority of the fan base became adamantly opposed to the Shockers' coach - questioning his abilities and whether he could do better than Horn. Some of the arguments got heated; the back-and-forth over Horn versus Marshall on the boards often got downright ugly. As much of a distraction as it turned out to be, it all became water under the bridge once Eric Hyman surprised us by terminating Horn.

When the news broke that there would be a new coach in Columbia, Marshall seemed like a better fit now even more than he had been before; the Shockers had won the 2012 Missouri Valley regular season crown, and made it back to this year's NCAAs after winning the NIT in 2011. He had proven he could take another squad back to March Madness. Plus, the Shockers were a senior-laden team which might be expected to take a small step backward next season, so if there was ever a time for Marshall to return to his home state (and his wife's home state, too), this was the time, wasn't it? Best of all, we had the money to pay him now. Or so we thought.

But it was not meant to be. He's not coming home. And all of the energy we expended in debating the point - both pro and con - is now moot. For the second time in four years, we're not going with Gregg Marshall.

Maybe we'll get a "better" coach. Maybe we won't.

Maybe we'll look back on this day as yet another "coulda, shoulda, woulda" in a program that exemplifies the old saw of never missing an opportunity to miss an opportunity. Or maybe our next hire will be the one who solves the puzzle of Gamecock hoops that has agonizingly eluded every South Carolina coach who has followed the legendary Frank McGuire.

I'm not angry at Eric Hyman. If Marshall priced himself out of our league, then that's on him - not Hyman. And if Hyman truly could not work with Marshall - for whatever reason - then perhaps it's for the best that Marshall stays in Wichita. After all, a dysfunctional A.D.-H.C. relationship (e.g., Mike McGee and Eddie Fogler) can set back a program for years, and the South Carolina men's basketball program is already on life-support as it is. Eric Hyman has cast his lot with USC and done amazing work on our facilities upgrade; we have to accept his judgment on this issue because, frankly, we have no choice. He's not going anywhere any time soon. We shouldn't want him to, either.

All that being said, I still feel like Carolina has somehow lost something. And I have a feeling it's going to be a hard feeling for me to shake - regardless of who we hire in Marshall's stead.

Best of luck to Coach Marshall and Wichita State.

After all - who knows if our paths will cross once-more in the future?

It's shaping up to be a gorgeous day in Columbia for SEC Baseball at it's finest. TV - Comcast Sports South (CSS); First pitch - 1:00 p.m.

Who will take the regular season series? Gamecocks or Gators? Comment here!

TDF - Show me where to look - tell me what will I find?

The Search

The Sporting News: South Carolina pursuing Kansas State's Frank Martin for opening. The report by SN basketball reporter Mike DeCourcy that made Martin-to-SC a national story last night.

Phil Kornblut: Martin to USC news reverberates across the country. Phil is still standing by Sports Talk's reports from yesterday. Great video of Martin highlights set to Sweet Georgia Brown. Is USC ready for an in-your-face guy like Martin?

Spur of the Moment: Sporting News reports USC has asked Kansas State for permission to speak with Frank Martin. Darryl's take.

Dixie Fried Sports: Matt Barber has been furiously updating his Frank Martin Watch - check out all of the new entries at the bottom of the timeline.

Kansas City Star: Report: South Carolina asks to speak with K-State’s Frank Martin.

Wichita Eagle: South Carolina asks to speak with K-State’s Frank Martin. "Still, South Carolina raises a few eyebrows. Though it would allow Martin to move closer to his hometown of Miami, and put him in the SEC with life-long coaching friends Andy Kennedy and Anthony Grant, it is a job with little recent success. The Gamecocks fired Darrin Horn after they won 10 games and finished last in the SEC this season. K-State, by comparison, returns all but one scholarship player next season." Editorialize much there? The report does confirm Martin's current salary ($1.55m a year) and contract terms (through 2015) with KSU.

KWCH Wichita: South Carolina zeroes in on Frank Martin. "Martin is in New York this weekend for CBS Sports coverage of the NCAA Tournament. In a text message to several writers, Frank Martin said he hasn't talked to anyone and was enjoying a Broadway show in New York. Several media outlets reported Martin's departure from K-State or that he had interviewed for the position, but then deleted the stories from their websites and Twitter feeds." The situation is fluid, as they say.

Leftover Hotdog: True or False: Frank Martin Era Set to Begin at South Carolina?

Dave Cloninger: Again, USC spokesman confirms that no basketball presser has been scheduled for Sat., Sun., or Mon. Of course that can change on a moment's notice.

Heath Cline: The 107.5 The Game host confirms that there no press conference has been scheduled for today (and in any event, Hyman is in Fresno today, while Martin is doing TV for CBS) but also tweets that a "[r]espected national hoops writer tells me Martin "would take" SC. Like me, still not comfortable calling this a done deal." Heath is taking a cautious line, and additionally tweets: "And, for what it's worth, a rumor's making its way around the press room at a regional about an entirely different guy to SC. Patience." Good advice.

The Rubber Chickens: Tbone posts an Occasional Knowledge Dump; quote - "Tubby Smith is a great choice for South Carolina’s MBB coaching vacancy. In other news from 1998, There’s Something About Mary is hilarious, Dale Earnhardt (Senior) finally own the Daytona 500, and these cute little Beanie Babies are really gonna be worth something someday. " Hey, wait a minute - There's Something About Mary is still hilarious.

CBS Sports: Conversations with CBS Sports: Tommy Amaker. I didn't hear any discussion about Tommy taking another gig, but there's no doubt he'd be a great ambassador for USC - even though I'm worried that he wasn't able to get it done at Seton Hall or Michigan (and we'd be a bigger rebuilding project than either the Pirates or the Wolverines).

Minneapolis Star Tribune: Run by Gophers aids Smith's job security - The Strib is talking like Minnesota is going to give Tubby an extension.

Gamecock Baseball

Gamecocksonline: Florida Evens Series With 8-2 Win Over Gamecocks. First pitch today at 1:00 p.m.

Post & Courier: Five-run first inning haunts Gamecocks by Darryl Slater.

Gamecock Central: Gators take Game 2, set up rubber match by Dave Cloninger.

Baseball America: Friday Roundup: Gators Strike Back.

Gene Sapakoff: What’s the right Price? No. 2 starter or reliever?

Perfect Game: Kendall Rogers says the answer is obvious - Back to reality .

Gamecock Football

Post & Courier: New and improved Clowney?

Sportstalkgolive: Recruiting Report 3.23.12 and Friday Spring Practice Report.

Twitterverse: Should we be flattered or appalled by this news from Vegas? 15:1? Really?

***UPDATE: Myrtle Beach Sun - Pete Iacobelli of the A.P. writes - South Carolina’s offense has holes to fill through spring practice for football.

Gamecock Women's Hoops

The Daily Gamecock: Women's hoops to face top-seeded Stanford Saturday night . Tip-off tonight: 11:30 ET; TV - ESPN2.

Post & Courier: Mentor vs. Student: Stanford's VanDerveer, USC's Staley have a long history.

Gamecock Anthem: Carolina face tall task in Stanford.

Gamecocksonline: NCAA Sweet 16 Press Conferences.

Loose Feed

Kentucky Sports: Darrin Horn a 'huge' fan of Indiana's Crean. About USC - "There's not anything I would do differently, there really isn't. We just needed to win more games." Coach Crean has invited Coach Horn up to watch the Kentucky-Indiana game. "As for his next step, Horn said he was 'wide open' in terms of taking another head coaching job or possibly an assistant's position in a major program. 'Fortunately, I'm in a situation where I don't have to do anything right now,' he said. 'Whatever I do, wherever I go, I can tell you my top priority will be picking a program where you can win.'" A bit of a slap at us? Or just common sense?

We may be coming to the end of our search for a new coach -- according to reports from both Columbia and Wichita. But, then again, maybe we're not ...

(And, no, it's not that coach from Wichita!)

At Sportstalkgolive,com, Brian Rauf has posted Indications are Martin to be next USC basketball coach, in which he says that "SportsTalk learned late Friday afternoon that South Carolina Athletics Director Eric Hyman has made a decision on his basketball hire, with the announcement coming early next week."

The Wichita NBC affiliate, KSN-TV, was running a similar report early this evening - but apparently has taken it down, leaving a 404 error message in its place - http://www.ksn.com/content/sports/localsports/story/Frank-Martin-to-leave-K-State-for-USC/9c-OC_DrYUGRTWPfx8lq9A.csp.

So what gives?

The State's Andy Shain has tweeted "To review the past 15 minutes: Sporting News reports USC has asked permission to speak with KSU's Frank Martin" and "A blog retracts a report that USC has hired him. Martin sends a text to reporters saying he's at "Jersey Boys" and talked to no one." Andy doesn't mention which blog he's referring to - nor does he link to Sporting News. Gamecock Central's David Cloninger, however, also confirms that Sporting News report, but says that "K-State nor Martin's agent would ever call me back when [he] asked for the same news."

One tidbit - Gene Sapakoff of the Charleston Post & Courier has tweeted that "Frank Martin flies in from Manhattan to visit ." Apparently, Cloninger has also reported that Martin was in Columbia today, but this story is behind the paywall. Gene is being careful to say he is only reporting that Martin interviewed at USC today, not that any deal has been reached. Likewise, the Sports Information Department has said that no press conferences have been set for next week. Eric Hyman is reportedly on his way to Fresno to see the Lady Gamecocks play Stanford.

Back in Kansas, however, Wichita Eagle sports columnist - and knowledgeable source - Bob Lutz says he has just texted with Martin "to ask him what's going on. He insists he hasn't talked to anyone. Call me crazy, but I believe him." So who do we believe? For his part, Lutz thinks that it would be shortsighted for Martin to go to South Carolina, and he "can't see it happening." So is he getting played?

Or are we?

TDF - These crazy ideas, oh they don't last long, but they come and they go in America.

The Search

Sportstalkgolive: Kevin McCrarey reports that Update: Contract reveals no buyout for Tubby Smith at Minnesota. Is this something that will entice Eric Hyman? Maybe - but then It may simply be chump change in terms of the larger picture, according to McCrarey: Tubby Smith will come with a steep price tag (AUDIO).

1500ESPN.com: Heck, who says Tubby actually wants to leave Minneapolis? The local ESPN sports radio station in the Twin Cities says that he doesn't - Tubby Smith linked to Tulsa, South Carolina jobs but says he is staying. "I'm a candidate for Minnesota," said Tubby about the coaching rumors. "That's it. It's good to hear that sometimes, but it doesn't help with your recruiting and things like that."

Mr. SEC: John Pennington writes that Dickerson, Cooper Mentioned In Connection With USC Hoops Gig. For Dave Dickerson, the Ohio State Assistant and former Tulane head coach, Pennington cites a story in The State that is behind the Go Gamecocks paywall; with respect to John Cooper, the Tennessee State head coach,Pennington merely says that he is getting more ink of late. Best line: "Both have ties to South Carolina. Both are African-American. Neither is a "name" candidate. (Both are bald, too ... not that [it] matters.).

Gene Sapakoff: A 'national'coach search reality plan. Gene discusses both the USC and College of Charleston searches.

Gamecock Baseball

Gamecocksonline: No. 6/8 South Carolina Defeats Florida 9-3 In Series Opener.

Orangeburg Times & Democrat: Gamecocks take down top-ranked Florida - by Darryl Slate (funny, the P&C hasn't put up Darryl's piece online yet!)

Gamecock Central: Price is right once more as USC tops number 1 Florida and Matthews enjoys success at the plate.

Leftover Hotdog: Gamecocks Great Debate: Should Price and Koumas Exchange Roles. After last night, this question won't be going away any time soon. Apparently, Matt Price said the coaches first talked to him a couple days ago about returning to the pen.

Brad Senkiw: Pankake enduring growing pains for Gamecocks.

Gamecock Football

Bleacher Report: Alex Roberts lists The Gamecocks' 5 Most Athletic Players.

Spur of the Moment Blog: Emptying the notebook with a whole bunch of spring football odds and ends from the first week-plus. A ton of good stuff from Darryl Slater.

Gamecock Women's Hoops

The State: Ron Morris says that Dawn Staley's Gamecocks face a difficult task.

Aiken Standard: Fans suddenly flock to Gamecock women.

One of the most intriguing names to emerge in the South Carolina coaching search is Tubby Smith. Smith is well-known for his stint at Kentucky, where he won a national title in his first year and coached several other elite teams, including three squads that made it to the Elite Eight. He's also well-known for losing the support of demanding Kentucky fans late in his tenure in Lexington. Since then, he's been at Minnesota, where he's had decent but somewhat mixed results.

Regardless of how things have gone for him over the last few years, there's little doubt that Smith would be an upgrade from Darrin Horn. Absolutely no question about it, and we could do much, much worse than to bring him in. Smith comes with an impressive resume. He has one national title, three Elite Eights, and five Sweet Sixteens. He has had 16 seasons of 20 wins or more. He's never had a losing season. He's a good, admirable man who famously pulled himself up from meager beginnings to become the head coach at one of college basketball's most storied programs. His teams are tough and they play a disciplined form of basketball that a lot of us would be relieved to see after years of watching Darrin Horn's teams. His best defenses, premised on his famous ball-line man-to-man philosophy, are among the best I've seen. Simply put, the guy is hall of fame material.

Yet I wonder if he's the best choice for us. Critics will say he's another Dave Odom. I'm not sure that's quite fair; Smith has enjoyed prolonged success Odom never came close to. But, as with Odom, Smith has been something of an underachiever during most of his career. His early years were unbelievable successes--a rise to stardom at Tulsa and UGA, followed by winning it all in his first year on the Bluegrass. Since then, he's had some very good teams at Kentucky--but none of those teams made the Final Four (he had the longest such stint of any UK coach, where good seasons are measured by Final Fours), despite the fact that some of them were considered favorites. His program, as said, stalled out late in his tenure, according to many UK fans due to subpar recruiting, which infamously included not recruiting future Florida star Corey Brewer in favor of Perry Stevenson. The Minnesota run has been good considering the Gophers' struggles earlier in the 2000s, but Smith hasn't managed to take the program into the same tier as Ohio St., Michigan St., and Wisconsin, and it now appears that Indiana is passing his program. So, yeah, he's certainly better than Horn and even Odom, but he doesn't exactly scream "coach that's going to help us get onto the national stage." It's easy to wonder if his best days might be behind him.

That being the case, my feeling on Smith is that I'd love to have him--but only if we can't get Frank Martin. Martin, to me, looks like the Tubby of the late 90s--he's young, winning, at the top of his game. I'm not sure how I feel about John Groce; we'll take a look at him tomorrow, perhaps. In short, though, I think that Tubby would get the fans somewhat excited and would improve our program, but I'm not confident that he'd take us much past being a consistent mid-tier SEC team.