When Dawn Staley arrived in Columbia for the 2008-09 season, the Gamecocks were still outfitted by Nike. That partnership lasted just one year. Under Armour stepped in for the 2009-10 season and never left — until now. After 17 seasons, six uniform variations, three national championships, and one controversial dunk, the Under Armour era officially closes on June 30, 2026. What follows is a look back at how the Gamecocks dressed for their rise to the top of women’s college basketball.
Era One: The “Gamecocks” Jerseys (2009–2013)
Under Armour’s opening statement was relatively traditional. The first set split “South” and “Carolina” on either side of the numbers, with “Gamecocks” spelled out vertically on the shorts and enclosed in stripes. The palette was straightforward — white, garnet, and black.
What made this era notable, and what no subsequent uniform set would replicate, was the garnet jersey placing “Gamecocks” above the numbers on the front. It remains the only time in the past 17 years that the word “Gamecocks” appeared on the front of a jersey. Every design that followed chose “South Carolina,” “Carolina,” or a block C logo instead — a subtle but permanent identity shift.
Era Two: The SEC Championship Set and Its Growing Pains (2013–2019)
Ahead of South Carolina’s first SEC championship, Under Armour introduced a cleaner, more unified look. “South Carolina” now ran in a single line above the numbers, the back featured dual stripes across the shoulders in team colors, and the collar carried a distinctive “neck roll” stripe. It was a sharper presentation — and it would anchor the program’s look for the better part of a decade, with tweaks along the way.
This era also introduced the pink breast cancer awareness uniforms, a departure from the standard template that incorporated garnet-and-black striped side panels with pink ribbon accents.
The set’s most consequential quirk, however, was unintentional. The numbers — black and gray sublimated across all colorways, including on the black jersey itself — lacked sufficient contrast. South Carolina was eventually assessed a technical foul for the violation, forcing a mid-run redesign for the 2016-17 season.
The corrections were measured. Numbers became garnet on the white jerseys and white on the garnet and black alternates. The side stripes gave way to sublimated tailfeather graphics on the home uniforms. Shorts got a block C. Collars went round with team-colored piping.
Then in 2019, another refresh: stripes returned to the side panels and the piping moved from the inside of the neck to the outside. White, garnet, and black all used the same template — a consistency the program had been building toward.
The Pinstripe Detour (2021–2023)
For the 2021-22 season, Under Armour took a creative risk. The new garnet alternate featured white pinstripes throughout, “Gamecocks” scripted in a baseball-style font, and large white shorts panels that, to many eyes, looked uncomfortably close to exposed compression shorts. Fan reaction was sharply divided.
The pinstripe uniforms were worn sparingly across two seasons — but they earned their footnote. South Carolina happened to be wearing them at Clemson when Ashlyn Watkins threw down the first dunk in program history. History has a way of finding the unusual uniforms.
Era Three: The Modern Template and the Cocky Alternates (2023–2026)
Ahead of the 2023 season, Under Armour delivered the most significant overhaul in a decade. The new standard set came in white, garnet, and black, all on the same template. The defining design choice — a double-stacked “South Carolina” above the front numbers — was unconventional enough to stand out. Garnet lettering on white, white lettering on the dark jerseys. Trim around the neck and arms (black on white, white on garnet and black). A Northwestern stripe pattern on the side panels, with a vertical “USC” and “WBB” inside the shorts panels.
The real conversation piece, though, was the fourth uniform introduced alongside the standard set: the Cocky alternates. Built around Cocky, the Gamecocks’ mascot, these jerseys swapped “South Carolina” for a block C on the front and introduced garnet and yellow trim — the yellow drawn from Cocky’s beak and feet. The use of yellow, not an official school color, sparked immediate debate among fans.
The players didn’t seem to mind. The Cocky alternates became the go-to lucky charm during the 2024 national championship run. By the 2025 Final Four in Tampa, the Under Armour logo on the front had been upgraded to metallic gold. South Carolina wore them for both games.
Going Six Deep: The 2025-26 Season
The final Under Armour season was also the most fully stocked. The script Carolina alternates, entering their second year, were joined by a new all-black block C uniform. Everything on that jersey was black — save for white numbers and a white block C outline. On the back collar sat three black stars, numbered 17, 22, and 24, representing South Carolina’s three national championships.
The black block C uniform was worn only once. But its existence meant the Gamecocks had six active uniform options for 2025-26: white, garnet, and black standards; the Cocky alternates; the script alternates; and the black block C. Six uniforms for a program that spent its Under Armour era becoming one of the sport’s most decorated.
The Details That Defined 17 Years
Across the entire Under Armour run, a few design constants held. Names always appeared beneath the numbers on the back. The racerback cut was consistent, even as the fit evolved — from baggy to loose to the tighter, shorter silhouette players preferred by the era’s end.
There were occasional exceptions early in seasons when uniforms were still being prepared, and at least one recurring inconsistency worth noting: Under Armour never settled on how to render Mikiah Herbert Harrigan’s name, cycling through double-stacked, single-line, and hyphenated versions across different garments.
The Under Armour era ends with three titles, a coaching legend, and a program that looks nothing like it did in 2009 — on the court or in the uniform room. Whatever comes next will have a lot of history to dress up to.
