COLUMBIA, S.C. — One former Lexington High school basketball standout is a proud member of the number one ranked South Carolina Gamecocks.
The game of basketball has always been a perfect fit for Olivia Thompson.
The Lexington county native has played the game since she was a little girl.
Thompson says it was her father who put the orange ball in her hand.
“He was the one that introduced me to it, he was always playing it when I was young, with his friends and stuff and I just always wanted to be like him,” Thompson said
Thompson says it was in middle school when she realized she was pretty good.
“I didn’t get to play on the team, but I was allowed to practice sometimes and when I did I was a lot better than the other girls and that’s when I realized I was pretty good.” Thompson said.
From dominating middle school, Thompson would go on to shine at Lexington high school, where she was a four-year starter for the Wildcats and would ultimately become the schools all-time leading scorer.
She was also the Class 5A player of the year in her senior season.
“I don’t know if being the leading scorer was even a goal of mine, at first I was just like okay I’m just here to play basketball,” Thompson said.
When it came to her decision on where to go for college, Thompson always knew Carolina was the place she wanted to call home.
“South Carolina has always been my dream school,” Thompson says. “Ever since I was young, I knew, my grandparents have been living in Columbia for a long time, and I have always grown up wanting to be a gamecock.”
Olivia became the first signing member of the Gamecocks 2019 recruiting class, which ultimately became the number one recruiting class for women’s basketball in the entire country.
Although she could have gone other places and played immediately, Thompson chosed to be a preferred walk-on at USC and play for National Champion Head Coach Dawn Staley.
“She’s an amazing person and an amazing coach, I would say she is even more of an amazing person, because she cares about every person on her team and she’s just as real as it gets.” Thompson said when discussing Staley.
As of January 29th, the Gamecocks are sporting a 19-1 record and are the number one team in the entire country.
Thompson hopes the team can ride this momentum all the way to a National Championship.
“National Championship is the goal, undefeated the rest of the season, SEC Champion, all of that.” Thompson said