South Carolina men’s basketball takes relaxed mindset into SEC Tournament

There’s magic surrounding Bridgestone Arena. Blue banners welcome fans along Broadway, as fans dressed head to toe in college apparel walk the bar-filled streets by the venue.

Inside, 14 teams are itching to take the court in the first round of the SEC Men’s Basketball Tournament. Preparation time is over, as are pregame press conferences. All that’s left is 40 minutes of basketball.

It’s a lot of pressure to put on players, particularly the ones who’ve never experienced a conference tournament; the spectacle of it all, no home court advantage and the win-or-go-home stakes.

Yet there Meechie Johnson was, dancing around as if he was playing basketball in his driveway with music playing from a speaker. He didn’t have a care in the world. He was relaxed and smiling. Zachary Davis joined in, head bobbing to the music blasting through the speakers. So did Myles Stute and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk (who was dancing on the opposite end of the court). Ta’Lon Cooper was laughing as he watched it all happen.

It turned into a mini-dance party while the Gamecocks took free throws at the end of open practice on Wednesday. The arena and its magical atmosphere was inviting for South Carolina men’s basketball team, not intimidating.

Basketball is, after all, a game.

“Some of these guys, you never get this opportunity to do this or get this time back with each other,” Johnson said. “So we like to have fun and enjoy the moment because we’ll go back here from now and look at these videos of us dancing, laughing when we tried to do a lot of crazy stuff on the court. That’s what basketball is about.”

This is what the No. 15 Gamecocks have been waiting for for months — a chance to show the SEC, and the country, what they can do in a tournament setting.

“I think they know that they’ve done some special things,” head coach Lamont Paris said. “But they’re not satisfied with that. They want to continue to make this ride last as long as they possibly can.”

So much of South Carolina’s season has been about proving people wrong. It’s the mantra they’ve embraced from the start — even with an AP Poll ranking and a program-record 25 regular season wins..

Johnson hasn’t been afraid to make it clear: “Every game, we’ll come out here and make a statement.”

The fairytale façade has faded, and the truth of where USC has found itself in March is staring them in the face: A matchup against either No. 13-seeded Vanderbilt or No. 12-seeded Arkansas.

While they’re a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, success in the SEC tourney would give them momentum moving forward.

It’s been weeks since the Gamecocks saw the local Commodores, and even longer since they faced the Razorbacks.

South Carolina is eager to find out their opponent, taking it all in while they wait.

It might be a new experience, but why not have a little bit of fun?

“Coach Paris always tells us, fun is in disguise,” Cooper said. “So you’ve got to dig deep to find it.”

USC’s game information

Who: No. 5 South Carolina (26-5, 13-4 SEC) vs. Winner of No. 13 Vanderbilt vs. No. 12 Arkansas

When: Thursday, March 14 at approximately 3:30 p.m.

Where: Bridgestone Arena in Nashville, Tennessee

TV: SEC Network

Radio: 107.5 FM