Athletes at the U.S. Olympic Team track and field trials, including several from South Carolina, are getting a break from intense pressures and hot temperatures.

Twelve years after the trio helped the United States reclaim its women’s basketball dominance in Atlanta, Dawn Staley reunited with former Olympic teammates Nikki McCray and Carla McGhee at South Carolina, hiring them as assistants to revive the Gamecocks program.

There are 105 Gamecock athletes being honored for their class work, the most among the SEC’s 12 schools. Georgia was second with 96 student athletes on the honor roll.

South Carolina basketball coach Darrin Horn has granted scholarships to walk-ons Branden Conrad and Robert Wilder.

South Carolina’s athletic department started criminal background checks on prospective coaches and administrators a few months after the NCAA placed the Gamecocks football program on three years probation.

Pedro Alvarez and Andrew Giobbi each hit two-run homers to help Vanderbilt stay alive in the Southeastern Conference tournament with a 7-5 win over South Carolina on Friday.

Blake Dean hit a solo home run in the bottom of the 10th inning to cap a late comeback and give LSU a 5-4 victory over South Carolina Wednesday in the opening game of the Southeastern Conference baseball tournament.

South Carolina and Clemson are closing out their regular seasons with critical series that could determine their postseason chances — not the way the typically strong teams wanted their baseball seasons to wrap up.