COLUMBIA - Jeremiah Donati didn’t bring up Colonial Life Arena because he was trying to set off a wave of speculation. He was answering a facility question while South Carolina introduced new baseball coach Kevin Schnall, and the athletic director used the moment to point to the bigger picture.
Still, one line jumped out.
“I mean, look, I think you can also ask me about Colonial Life Arena. The reality is that facility is probably near the end of its life cycle,” Donati said. “So what I would say is like any other project we’ve done, let’s take a look at what needs to be fixed or what needs to be upgraded, then let’s put a plan together.”
That was enough to get Gamecocks fans talking. By the next day, message boards and social media were buzzing about the possibility of a new basketball arena. The reality, though, is much less immediate.
A major CLA project is not around the corner. Donati’s point was broader than a single building: South Carolina is in the closing stage of a three-phase, $350 million renovation of Williams-Brice Stadium, and that kind of work takes priority in both attention and money. Once that is finished, it opens the door for other facility conversations.
Colonial Life Arena is part of that conversation, but only in the long view. The building is heading into its 25th season, and while Donati has mentioned possible touch-ups to premium areas, anything beyond that remains a future discussion.
And there are bigger questions than just whether the arena gets a facelift. If USC ever decides to move beyond a refresh and go with a renovation or a full replacement, the school would first have to settle where the Gamecocks would actually play during the work.
Carolina Coliseum is not the answer. Its basketball days are long gone, and making it usable again would require far more than a simple court swap.
That’s part of why CLA was such a different kind of answer when it opened in November 2002. South Carolina wanted a bright, comfortable, multipurpose building that could handle graduations, concerts, the circus and basketball. It got that, along with 18,000 seats and a layout far more open than the old Coliseum.
What it never fully got, at least not the way the Coliseum once delivered, was that same relentless basketball edge. The old building could feel like it was on top of opponents when it was loud. CLA has had its moments, including sold-out nights that have felt like a real home-court advantage, but not consistently from one season to the next.
One possible fix would not require tearing anything down at all. The TV camera setup could be changed so broadcasts show the student section instead of the bench side of the arena.
Right now, the camera wells put the bench side on television, with the better fan sections behind the benches and the visitors’ section behind the opposing bench. On any given night, those areas can look fuller or emptier than they really are.
Dawn Staley’s women’s team has solved that problem by filling those seats every night. The men’s team has not.
If the camera angle changed, the student sections would be front and center on TV. Those seats run from the only corner of the gym without a tunnel to the end zone nearest the visitor’s bench, and it would go a long way toward avoiding the look of a half-empty building on broadcasts.
Then there’s the land question. The best parcel USC owns is near Williams-Brice Stadium, where the school previously unveiled a “game-changer” plan tied to stadium fundraising and other projects.
But 847 of the 899 acres there sit on a flood plain, which makes it hard to imagine a basketball arena being built there. That leaves downtown or the current CLA site as the more realistic possibilities if a replacement ever becomes necessary.
Even then, the issue circles back to the same practical problem: where would South Carolina stage full seasons while a new arena is being built or an old one is being renovated?
For now, all of it remains under study. The original athletics village plan near Stone Stadium called for a basketball practice facility and possibly new basketball offices, and that is still part of the master plan if funding comes through.
The current setup, though, is hard to beat. Basketball players live at 650 Lincoln, right across from Carolina Coliseum and the practice facility, with the men’s offices there as well and Staley’s office next door above the volleyball gym.
That kind of convenience matters. Especially when you’re asking young people to be in the right place at the right time.