March 7,1970 the coots basketball team was ranked #3 in the nation and went undefeated in the ACC regular season. In the championship game of the ACC Tournament they were beaten by NC State 42-39 and knocked out of the NCAA Tournament. Not long after that they took their sack of marbles and became an Independent Sports school. That team had possibly their greatest players ever, Roache, Riker, Owens, Cremmins, Aydlett and Ribock. South Carolina basketball never recovered from that loss.