South-Carolina
South Carolina, UConn celebrate NCAA championships at White House with President Biden
![South Carolina, UConn celebrate NCAA championships at White House with President Biden South Carolina, UConn celebrate NCAA championships at White House with President Biden](https://www.gannett-cdn.com/authoring/authoring-images/2024/09/10/USAT/75160295007-bidenjersey.jpg?auto=webp&crop=3963,2230,x0,y56&format=pjpg&width=1200)
South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley at White House
Remarks by South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley at White House ceremony with President Biden on Tuesday in Washington, D.C.
WASHINGTON — The South Carolina women’s basketball team has won three national championships under coach Dawn Staley, but Tuesday marked its first celebratory trip to the White House.
Five months after beating Iowa in the title game, Staley and the Gamecocks came to Washington on Tuesday to be feted by President Joe Biden, who praised the coach’s leadership and spoke glowingly about the grit they showed en route to a perfect 38-0 record.
“You had to replace five starters due to the WNBA draft and graduation. There were doubts all over about contending for the title this year,” Biden said. “But for the record, and this is God’s truth: I picked you to win. I won a lot of money − no, that’s a joke.”
Biden entered and exited the East Room accompanied by Staley, who recently attended the 2024 Paris Olympics as a member of the United States’ official presidential delegation, which was led by First Lady Jill Biden. The president said he knows why South Carolina has become a women’s basketball powerhouse, and it’s because “you’ve got a girl from Philly running this team.” (The First Lady also grew up in the Philadelphia area.)
Biden then turned the microphone over to Staley, who said the moment “is not lost on me.” Staley declined to visit the White House after the Gamecocks won their first national championship in 2017, during the early stages of Donald Trump’s presidency. They also did not celebrate their 2022 title in Washington due to apparent scheduling issues.
Staley called Tuesday’s visit “a teachable moment for my team” and referenced a 2015 decision to remove the confederate flag – “a symbol that represented division and exclusion” – from outside South Carolina’s state capitol.
“That moment wasn’t just about a symbol being removed. It was about people coming together, uniting for a shared vision of progress, justice and equality,” Staley said. “Today, my staff, my team and I stand here embodying diversity, inclusiveness and unity. My hope is that this moment lands on you, as my team, as a powerful reminder of the beauty that can come from unifying for a common goal and doing things the right way.”
After a round of applause, Biden returned to the microphone.
“All those of you who hold public office in South Carolina: You better hope she keeps coaching and doesn’t run,” he said to laughter.
The Gamecocks will open their season Nov. 4.
The two-time defending champion Connecticut men’s basketball team is also scheduled to celebrate at the White House later Tuesday.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on social media @Tom_Schad.
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South-Carolina
South Carolina man bitten by world’s most venomous snake that he was keeping as pet
![South Carolina man bitten by world’s most venomous snake that he was keeping as pet South Carolina man bitten by world’s most venomous snake that he was keeping as pet](https://www.pennlive.com/resizer/v2/RIRZLUWXOREV3PGVDZX36NSJTU.jpg?auth=0a5af3bd29c1d8a27c7747c4a1ee639625aecbdad85622308cf997cc960caeb1&width=1280&quality=90)
A South Carolina man is battling for his life in a hospital after he was bitten by an inland taipan — the most venomous snake in the world — in his home on Friday.
According to Reptile Magazine, the man, who was known for posting videos with the exotic venomous snakes in his collection, was free handling the snake when it bit him. The site said he posted a video handling the snake earlier in the day and claiming he could control its movement.
“I can control his turn,” he said in the video. “There’s no need to be so scared of him.”
WBTW identified the man as Jeffrey Leibowitz, and said that a search of his property later turned up 14 snakes and a pet cat. Among the venomous snakes taken from his home, the site said, was a green mamba, two gaboon vipers, a fer-de-lace, a death adder, an eastern diamondback rattlesnake, two other adult rattlesnakes of unknown species, to black forest cobras, two neotropical rattlesnakes, a small rattlesnake (species unknown) and the taipan.
Jeff Camper, a biologist and snake specialist at Francis Marion University, told the site the snake has a “very, very dangerous, potent venom,” and that one bite could “kill up to 100 people.”
WBTW said antivenom was flown in from Florida to help treat Leibowitz.
“His body is probably going to want to shut down relatively soon,” Camper told the site. “My understanding is that he’s on a respirator, and that’s what’s needed for the patient to be able to continue breathing, as his diaphragm is likely paralyzed.
“He may have long-lasting or permanent damage to various organs.”
“Taipan envenomations are incredibly dangerous and just about the worst thing to be bitten by,” University of Queensland Australia Associate Professor Bryan Fry wrote on Facebook. “That is because taipans are specialists upon very dangerous prey animals such as long-haired rats. Mammals quite capable of severely injuring or even killing a snake predator. So they have evolved strategies to absolutely nuke their very dangerous prey. Giving it no chance of retaliating.”
WBTW said that none of the zoos or reptile areas nearby would take the animals “due to unknown health and environmental concerns such as their living conditions and potential illnesses.” It said a family member signed a voluntary surrender form, giving the snakes over to Florence police for euthanasia.
South-Carolina
Kentucky to be featured in Netflix series about SEC Football — starting with the loss to South Carolina
![Kentucky to be featured in Netflix series about SEC Football — starting with the loss to South Carolina Kentucky to be featured in Netflix series about SEC Football — starting with the loss to South Carolina](https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/09/09191727/kentucky-netflix-series-sec-football-south-carolina-loss.png)
Kentucky Football is about to get the Netflix treatment — and unfortunately, Saturday’s embarrassing loss to South Carolina is part of it.
Sources tell KSR’s Matt Jones that the SEC signed a deal with Netflix for a docuseries about SEC football and Kentucky is one of several teams featured. In May, word first broke about the series, which will be similar to Drive to Survive about Formula 1 and Full Swing about the PGA Tour. According to Jones, it will be released in 2025.
The first game the crews were in town for? The 31-6 loss to the Gamecocks. Netflix crews embedded with the Cats all week leading up to Saturday’s game and were in the locker room before and after to capture the scene. I can’t wait to relive that one.
The crew will be with Kentucky for at least one more game. Hopefully, it goes better than Saturday. To quote Aaron Harrison, maybe it will end up being a great story.
South-Carolina
What are the next steps for South Carolina's developing offense heading into Week 3?
![What are the next steps for South Carolina's developing offense heading into Week 3? What are the next steps for South Carolina's developing offense heading into Week 3?](https://on3static.com/uploads/dev/assets/cms/2024/09/09120335/Untitled-design-867.png)
Through two games, South Carolina still has a lot of work to do to reach its full potential. But this past Saturday was undoubtedly a big step in the right direction.
After narrowly escaping with a victory against Old Dominion, the Gamecocks went into Lexington and earned a 25-point win over Kentucky. The defense has continued to play very well, as did the special teams units. However, the offense is still very much a work in progress.
The results from the first to second game were an improvement. South Carolina was able to play more balanced with a better passing attack. That’s not to say it was anything special, though.
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Making his first SEC start, LaNorris Sellers looked more comfortable in the pocket, as he completed 11-of-15 passes for 159 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw a pass that sailed over his receiver for an interception late in the second quarter and fumbled twice while being sacked.
As the offense continues to develop, it starts with Sellers continuing to show more of what he can do as a passer and limiting his mistakes.
“It was good to see us make some strides and we did it with different schemes or different concepts, if that makes sense,” head coach Shane Beamer said during his Sunday teleconference. “I mean, we opened up the second half, we were in empty with two tight ends. And I don’t think we had a running back on the field on that first play of the second half in empty. And then we hit a little quick route underneath to Mike Smith. We’ve got to be able to continue to do that.”
Beamer was happy with some of the more explosive plays South Carolina was able to make. He specifically pointed out a third down conversion pass play from Sellers to Jared Brown for a 13-yard gain in the third quarter. And more so in general, he liked the way Sellers was “improvising and being able to keep his eyes downfield.”
[Win two tickets to the South Carolina-LSU football game]
Ultimately, though, the offense still isn’t where it needs to be. As a team, the Gamecocks only mustered 252 total yards, 86 of which came in the run game. This was a departure from rushing for nearly 175 yards in Week 1, though South Carolina had 22 less carries on Saturday. It only averaged 2.5 yards per carry.
“We’ve got to be able to one, protect, and like I said, the offensive line did a really good job of that yesterday,” Beamer said. “(Deone Walker) got some pressure on us early in the game in the first couple series. But after that, most of the pressures we gave up were essentially quarterback or tight end. So we’ve got to be a little bit better about that for sure. Got to be more efficient running the ball.”
But if South Carolina really wants to do well in conference play, it may come down to how the passing game looks. Of those 252 total yards, 166 of them were through the air, with two receivers and tight ends combining for 12 catches.
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It wasn’t just what Sellers did that made the passing offense look more effective. It was also what his pass-catchers were able to do, especially with creating good separation to make plays. Yet, the Gamecocks still don’t have a true top target.
To put it into perspective, South Carolina’s leading receiver right now is Mazeo Bennett Jr. with five catches for 81 yards and a touchdown. As a whole, the receivers and tight ends have only had 22 catches for 280 yards this season. It seemingly proves just how much of a by committee product this will be until somebody steps up.
“As we’ve told those guys, we’re still trying to figure it out. We’re waiting for two or three or four guys to really take this thing and go,” Beamer said. “I feel pretty confident right now saying Jared Brown and Mazeo Bennett are probably our top two receivers right now. Well, are they going to continue to evolve or not? And then who else? We need more than two. So we’re waiting on these other guys to come on and take this thing.”
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