COLUMBIA, S.C. — As the Gamecocks women’s basketball team prepares to play in the Final Four Friday, fans are packing their bags to cheer them on.
A Carolina fan for as long as she can remember, Jan Middlebrooks is getting ready to head to her 24th Final Four.
“I tell everybody that i get the chance to tell that these are not only incredibly talented young women but they’re even better humans. they represent this city, this state, our university, so well that I’m proud to be associated with them,” Middlebrooks said.
Her love for the gamecocks dates back to the early 70s, this is more than just a team to Middlebrooks.
“My father played football here. For about a week I said I wanted to go to Clemson and he said he wouldn't pay so I came here. Thank you dad. My brother eventually played football here as well. I’ve been a Carolina fan from the cradle forward,” she said.
She’s packed and ready to support her number one team, but this isn’t her first trip out of Columbia to support the Gamecocks.
“We’ve been to Dallas, Cleveland, Columbus, Minneapolis, 14 different cities with the Final Four. I go whether my team is there or not but it sure was good for them to start joining me on more regular basis in 2015,” Middlebrooks said.
And there’s nothing like a die hard fan, without a few superstitions.
“I'm not the only one with these superstitions, a lot of my FAMS have them too. My socks are Carolina, my shoes are black, of course my pants are black. I have some garnet pants that I wear as well. I have some particular tops and jackets. This used to have a garnet zipper but I had the zipper changed to black so it would work,” she said.
March Madness is something she looks forward to every year, but Middlebrooks says the Gamecock women are inspiring fans beyond the tournament.
“It means that you ride around South Carolina and like Indiana you see basketball hoops in the yard and little girls out there shooting the basketballs. It means that you're going to have competitive women when they graduate from college and enter the workforce. there’s just so many different facets of why being a fan of women's basketball is wonderful in 2024,” she said.