League lauds recent basketball success

DESTIN, Fla. — When South Carolina men’s basketball coach Frank Martin walked into a Southeastern Conference meeting room earlier this week, his colleagues gave him a standing ovation.

Well-deserved recognition for leading the Gamecocks to the Final Four.

His counterpart in Columbia, women’s coach Dawn Staley, was presented a cake for winning the program’s first national championship.

The league probably should have had balloons, streamers and confetti, too. The SEC celebrated its recent hoops accomplishments at the league’s annual spring meetings. And rightfully so. After all, it was a banner year — literally — for the mostly football-first league. Martin and the seventh-seeded Gamecocks were the surprise of the NCAA Tournament, upsetting Duke, Baylor and Florida before falling to Gonzaga in the Final Four.

Staley and her team reached the Final Four for the second time in three years and broke through by beating Mississippi State in an all-SEC title game. The Bulldogs stunned top-seeded UConn to reach the championship game, ending the Huskies’ 111-game winning streak.

“Just kind of a warm feeling about what we accomplished,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said.

Especially on the men’s side, which advanced Florida, Kentucky and South Carolina to the Elite Eight in March. It was the latest and greatest showing for a league that continues to strengthen its brand through hiring big-name coaches, landing top recruits and finding more success in non-conference games.

“It looks like we (could) have seven teams in the Top 25,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said. “I mean, this stuff has switched . ... There’s some excitement on just about every campus right now.”