The 2016-2017 Lower Richland Diamond Hornet boys’ basketball team celebrates the 4A State Championship following a 51-42 win over the Wren Hurricanes.
The athletic landscape of Lower Richland High School over the past two decades has been a mixed bag.
There have been some downs, such as a 25- year streak in football without a winning season. The team is also on its tenth coach in Rodney Barr since the departure of Bill Kimrey.
The baseball team has not won a region title since 2006.
The boys’ basketball team also went more than a decade-and-a-half without a state championship.
Despite the hard times, the Lower Richland athletic department has not forgotten about its past athletes.
After leaving his teaching post in 2001, Bob Matz returned to Lower Richland in 2012 as athletic director. He knows first hand what names like Jonathan and Harold Goodwin, Richard Seymour, and Stanley Roberts mean to the Lower Richland area.
“They’ve always been a very big source of pride for the community and the school,” Matz said.
The pride has been shown from both sides. Seymour donated money to help improve the weight training facility at Lower Richland.
Marcus Edmond signs with Clemson University in February 2013.
In 2016, the NFL came out with the Golden Footballs in commemoration of Super Bowl 50. The Golden Footballs went to former Super Bowl winners. Of the contingent of former players who received Golden Footballs for Lower Richland were Seymour, the Goodwins, and David Patten.
“It means a lot,” Matz said. “You have four Super Bowl gold footballs that put Lower Richland on the map. Besides those, we have other NFL athletes. You have a lot of history here.”
Former Diamond Hornet boys’ basketball star Ed Scott served as a good link to Lower Richland past and present. Not only was he in the stands watching Roberts and Jojo English bring state championships to Lower Richland as a kid, along with winning one himself, but he also coached Diamond Hornet players Clyde Trapp and Savion Townsend in AAU basketball.
The impact of some of the former athletes extends well beyond their professional careers. The trophies they helped win while at Lower Richland sit in the many cases outside of the Diamond Hornets’ basketball gym.
Clyde Trapp following the 4A State Championship game.
“Those are examples of players that have made such an impact at Lower Richland High School,” Lower Richland athletic director Debbie Wardlaw said. “I’m not sure if they realize the impact they have. To have that in our trophy case and to be able to share with the kids what the meaning is puts a stamp on your program and what you are teaching the kids in the area.”
While athletes like Seymour, Patten, the Goodwins, and Roberts have long since retired from their respective sports, their names still resignate with the younger generation.
According to Matz, many of the kids’ parents went to school with the former athletes and often speak about those times.
There have been more recent athletes to come out of Lower Richland and make an impact in college and professional sports. Lance Laury and Brandon Jamison, both played for the Diamond Hornets in the late 1990s, each had careers in the NFL.
A plaque signifying the Richard Seymour training facility hangs above the door in the lobby outside of the facility.
Marcus Edmond, who graduated from Lower Richland in 2013, is finishing up an accomplished career at Clemson University, including winning a National Championship in 2016.
Trapp, who was a key member of the 2016-2017 Lower Richland boys’ basketball state championship team, will suit up for the Tigers’ men’s basketball team this winter.
Wardlaw took over as athletic director in 2016, after Matz vacated the position late in 2015 to take over as the Richland School District One athletic director.
She is now charged with trying to restore some of the luster back to Lower Richland athletics.
Despite only being in the position a short time, Wardlaw has started to see some changes.
It began with the cheerleading squad making it to the state championship and extended to the boys’ state title run. The girls’ and boys’ tennis teams, the softball team, and the baseball team all enjoyed trips to the playoffs during the 2016- 2017 academic year.
David Patten’s Golden Football
“We had a bunch of these feel good moments this year,” Wardlaw said. “It seems that everyone was on board. All of this selfness just went away. It went by the wayside.”
The football team is also showing signs of improvement. After starting the 2017 season with a 19- game losing streak, Barr‘s squad beat Airport to break the streak.
A week later, the Diamond Hornets recorded their first shutout in almost six years. They also recorded a stunning win against Chapin on October 13.
Along with the accomplishments on the field, Wardlaw is seeing a different attitude from the coaches.
Just last season, football coaches were driving students in buses to the Florence Civic Center for the basketball semifinals. There have also been times when tennis and basketball coaches have come out to different sporting events to show their support.
Jonathan Goodwin’s Golden Football
Time will tell if these changes add up to bigger accomplishments, but some times history does have a way of repeating itself.
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