Surprise! SCarolina, Clemson take championships

COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) — The best surprises are usually the ones you don’t see coming. And few would’ve imagined when the year began the stunning accomplishments that filled South Carolina’s sports fields, arenas and stadiums throughout 2011.

Who thought the baseball Gamecocks capable of a second straight College World Series, that Clemson football could rise from a losing season to the Atlantic Coast Conference championship or that the country’s No. 1 college prospect would pass up the likes of Alabama, Ohio State and Florida to join Steve Spurrier’s program?

And there were plenty of other unreal happenings in South Carolina sports. Clemson basketball reached a fifth-straight NCAA tournament with first-year coach Brad Brownell. The Royal Bank of Canada stepped in at the 11th hour to keep the PGA Tour’s Heritage in South Carolina.

Star-crossed quarterback Stephen Garcia finally ran out of chances after his sixth transgression with the Gamecocks. And Spurrier’s South Carolina team excelled to win five of its final six games after star runner Marcus Lattimore was lost to a knee injury.