Good morning, and Happy Valentine’s Day! Yesterday’s edition of Ta’Lon Tuesday can’t be missed!

What else is mixed into today’s Brew? ⤵️

🏀 Improving our product
✈️ Indy bound
🤙 And much, much more

🎥 GAMECOCKS+

Gamecock baseball takes the diamond in just a few short days, Gamecock softball is already off to a 5-0 start, South Carolina women’s basketball is doing South Carolina women’s basketball things, and South Carolina men’s basketball is battling it out for a regular season conference championship.

On this Valentine’s Day, there’s a lot to love about the current state of South Carolina’s programs.

Give yourself or your Valentine the ultimate gift to celebrate the love of the Gamecocks with our backstage pass to all things Garnet & Black as March Madness nears and two new spring seasons get underway.

P.S. Don’t forget to log on tonight for an all-new episode of The CockTale Hour streaming exclusively on GamecocksPlus.com!

📈 STOCK UP

🔼 Keeping Watch. Watch lists keep coming, and your Gamecocks keep landing on them. Kamilla Cardoso and Te-Hina Paopao were named on the 2024 Jersey Mike’s Naismith Trophy Women’s Player of the Year Midseason Team, while Paopao, MiLaysia Fulwiley, and Raven Johnson all earned recognition on the 2024 The Dawn Staley Later Season Watch List.

🔼 Gamecocks In The NFL. The NFL season has come to a close, and a handful of former Gamecocks posted dominant seasons at the next level. Ernest Jones shined for the Rams, setting a new franchise record for tackles in a season with 145 even while missing two games. Prior to a season-ending injury, Minnesota’s D.J. Wonnum tallied 62 tackles, eight sacks, seven tackles for loss, and six passes defended — and he scored a 51-yard touchdown on a fumble recovery. Keisean Nixon wrapped up his regular season with 80 tackles, 0.5 sacks, two fumble recoveries, and 782 kickoff return yards in Green Bay, while Stephon Gilmore racked up 68 regular-season tackles, two interceptions, and a forced fumble for the Cowboys.

Meanwhile, Zacch Pickens made an appearance in all 17 games for the Bears, posting 20 tackles, 0.5 sacks, and a forced fumble in his rookie campaign. Jadeveon Clowney and the Ravens made it to the AFC Championship; Clowney finished the regular season with 43 tackles, 9.5 sacks, and two forced fumbles. Javon Kinlaw and Deebo Samuel both reached the Super Bowl for the 49ers, with Kinlaw recording 25 tackles and 3.5 sacks in the regular season, and Samuel posting 892 receiving yards for seven touchdowns and 225 rushing yards for five touchdowns.

🔼 Improving Our Product. With lots of eyes around the nation on the race for the SEC regular season title and Gamecock men’s hoops proving it is a bona fide contender to bring the championship to Columbia, Coach Lamont Paris’ crew is tuning it all out and focusing on leaving it all on the court every time they suit up.

“I think there’s still some room for growth in our product,” Paris said. “At some point, that won’t be the case, we’ll be doing it all. We’ll be playing the best that we can possibly play. And then you just try to do that for as long as you can. And you can’t do that for a whole season and I don’t think you can do that for two months. But if you can start finding your way to that mode here in the next week or two, I think you can do that the rest of the season and ride it out.”

🔼 Indy Bound. Five Gamecocks are heading to the NFL Combine in Indianapolis later this month! Spencer Rattler, Xavier Legette, Trey Knox, Nick Gargiulo, and Marcellas Dial all earned invites. The combine gets underway on February 26.

🤔 GAMECOCK TRIVIA

Down Goes The QB. Jadeveon Clowney finished the regular season with 9.5 sacks for the Ravens, which tied his career-high in the NFL. In what other season did he record 9.5 sacks?

Got it? Scroll down to the bottom of this email for the right answer!

📬 STICK WITH US

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📬 A LOOK AHEAD

Wednesday 2/14

🎾 Women’s Tennis vs. Clemson @ 4:00pm ET | Live Stats | Live Streaming

🏀 Men’s Basketball @ Auburn @ 8:30pm ET on SEC Network

Thursday 2/15

🏀 Women’s Basketball @ Tennessee @ 7:00pm ET on ESPN

🥎 Softball vs. Utah @ 7:00pm ET (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) on FloSports | Live Stats

🥎 Softball vs. Wichita State @ 9:30pm ET (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) on FloSports | Live Stats

🏃 Track & Field @ Arkansas Qualifier (Fayetteville, AR) on SEC Network+

Friday 2/16 - Monday 2/19

🎾 Men’s Tennis @ ITA National Team Indoor Championships (New York, NY)

Friday 2/16

🥎 Softball vs. UC Davis @ 1:30pm ET (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) on FloSports | Live Stats

⚾ Baseball vs. Miami (Ohio) @ 4:00pm ET on SEC Network+ | Tickets

Saturday 2/17

🏀 Men’s Basketball vs. LSU @ 3:30pm ET on SEC Network | Tickets

🏃 Track & Field @ USC Invite (Columbia, SC)

🏃 Track & Field @ Alex Wilson Invitational (South Bend, IN)

🏖️ Beach Volleyball’s Garnet and Black Scrimmage @ 10:00am ET

🎾 Women’s Tennis @ Wake Forest @ 11:00am ET | Live Stats | Live Streaming

⚾ Baseball vs. Miami (Ohio) @ 12:00pm ET on SEC Network+ | Tickets

🥎 Softball vs. UC San Diego @ 1:30pm ET (Puerto Vallarta, Mexico) on FloSports | Live Stats

⚽ Men’s Soccer vs. Crown Legacy FC (Exhibition) @ 3:00pm ET

Sunday 2/18

🏀 Women’s Basketball vs. Georgia @ 1:00pm ET on ABC | Tickets

⚾ Baseball vs. Miami (Ohio) @ 1:30pm ET on SEC Network+ | Tickets

🎉 TRIVIA ANSWER

Answer: Clowney also tallied 9.5 sacks in 2017 for the Houston Texans.

🤙 Have a good Wednesday, y’all.