South Carolina’s Non-Conference Slate Grows, Bringing a Familiar Face Back to Columbia
South Carolina’s 2026-27 schedule continues to take shape, and the latest addition brings a notable homecoming with it. The Gamecocks announced two new non-conference games this week — home matchups against Albany on December 16 and Gardner-Webb on December 28 — with the Albany game carrying extra significance for longtime South Carolina fans.
That significance comes down to who’s now leading the Great Danes. Albany enters 2026 with Kelly Morrone as head coach, marking her first season with the program after being hired this offseason. Albany’s own announcement of its 15-home-game schedule, plus an exhibition, generated plenty of excitement on its end too, with the program telling fans to “Get your season tickets NOW.”
For South Carolina faithful, Morrone’s name is anything but unfamiliar. She played guard for the Gamecocks from 1999-2004, helping lead the program to back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2002 and 2003, including an Elite Eight run in 2002 that ended in a 77-68 loss to Duke. Her playing career left a lasting mark on the program’s record books — she still ranks third all-time in South Carolina history in career three-point percentage (36.6%), three-pointers made (238), and three-point attempts (650), numbers that held up alongside averages of 8.4 points, 2.9 assists, and 2.4 rebounds per game during her time in Columbia.
Morrone’s coaching path has taken her through several stops since. She began at the University of Buffalo in 2005, worked as an assistant at multiple programs, and landed her first head coaching job at John Carroll in 2013. From there she moved to Merrimack College, where she posted a 74-92 record across six seasons, before Albany brought her on this offseason to lead the Great Danes.
She inherits a program coming off real success. Albany finished last season 26-7 and won the America East championship, earning a bid to the WBIT before falling to top-seeded Saint Joseph’s 69-40 in the opening round. Given the talent gap between the programs, South Carolina will enter the December 16 matchup as a heavy home favorite, even against a Great Danes team with real postseason pedigree.
The Albany and Gardner-Webb additions slot into an already stacked non-conference schedule for the Gamecocks. South Carolina opens the season against Maryland in Paris, France, on November 2, followed by North Carolina on November 8, in-state rival Clemson on November 12, USC in Greenville on November 15, UConn at Mohegan Sun Arena on November 24, and a road trip to Duke on December 3 as part of the annual ACC-SEC Challenge. The slate continues with a matchup against Audi Crooks and Oklahoma State on December 6, before South Carolina opens SEC play at home against Alabama on December 31.
Before any of that tips off, though, fans will get their first look at this year’s team next month, when South Carolina plays an outdoor exhibition against the College of Charleston in September — an early preview of a roster that, schedule aside, is also generating buzz on the recruiting trail, with four-star guard Kaylor Buse emerging as a name South Carolina hopes to add out west.
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