Ready for Freddy: How Football dreams led to South Carolina women's basketball rings

Some may think they have seen it all when it comes to the rise of South Carolina women’s basketball.

The program’s first win in Knoxville against Pat Summitt in 2012, the first SEC titles in 2014 and 2015, the first national title in 2017, from the highs of a perfect season in 2024 to the lows of national championship defeats in 2025 and ‘26. There’s been a lot to witness. 

Director of Player Development Freddy Ready has seen more. 

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Ready’s time with South Carolina women’s basketball runs longer than Colonial Life Arena’s. His time with South Carolina Athletics predates anyone on the Gamecock roster’s lifetime. 

The Aiken, S.C.-native’s involvement with South Carolina’s athletics department dates back to his time as a student athlete himself. 

Then-head coach Lou Holtz recruited Ready to play wide receiver for the Gamecocks. When blown-out knees ended the young wide receiver’s football career, Ready, who came to South Carolina as an Athletic Training major, initially worked with the athletic trainers while he rehabbed his injury.

To put it bluntly, he didn’t like it. 

“I was like, ‘You know what? I don’t want to deal with people’s feet.’ Especially all those football players,” Ready told GamecockCentral. “I was like, I wanna be on the business side.” 

Ready continued to work in the front office of the athletics department, primarily with the Gamecock Club, waiting for a Graduate Assistant position to open on Coach Holtz’s staff. 

Unfortunate for him, a spot never came. Ready pivoted. He knew some practice players for the women’s basketball program, and wanted to learn more about Title IX. Additionally, he still needed an internship to graduate with his new sports management major. 

“Susan [Walvius] saw what I was doing with football, as far as recruiting pieces and mailouts, and she asked, ‘Hey, do you want to do your internship with us?” Ready said. 

24 years later, he’s still around.  If you asked former Gamecock La’Keshia Sutton if Ready staying around shocked her, she wouldn’t be.

“It speaks volumes to his loyalty, his belief in Coach Staley,” Sutton told GamecockCentral. “He was there in the beginning, like I was, when it wasn’t, when it wasn’t popular to be South Carolina. When we had a few hundred people in the crowd. He never wavered, he never changed.”

Ready’s impact with his players goes beyond his ability to assist them on the court. Sutton said he chooses to be there for his Gamecocks in their personal lives. 

Even now, as Sutton mentors young athletes like Notre Dame’s Hannah Hidalgo and coaches George School Girls Basketball, Ready impacts her life. 

“Coach Freddy’s always like, ‘You know, the college game needs you,” Sutton said. “And I’m like, ‘I understand, coach, I really enjoy where I’m at right now.’ But he’s just someone that when you call, he’ll pick up the phone, no matter what time, no matter where.” 

In December 2002, Ready was far from the three-time national champion he’d become. He was just a recent college graduate who completed his internship with South Carolina women’s basketball. 

Walvius wanted to keep him around, so he stayed as the assistant director of basketball operations, working part-time with full-time hours. The role entailed working with video, scheduling, and other various odd jobs throughout the program. 

Be The Change 

In 2008, Ready was a student at South Carolina again, spending time as a graduate assistant while working towards a master’s degree in Sports and Entertainment Management. As the Spring 2008 semester was wrapping up, change came within the women’s basketball program.

Susan Walvius was stepping down. Weeks later, on May 7, then-Athletics Director Eric Hyman announced Temple head coach Dawn Staley as the program’s seventh head coach. 

Ready, in the final year of his degree, became worried he wouldn’t be able to complete his program. Additionally, he feared having to uproot his entire life and, once again, be the odd man out of the graduate assistant staff at South Carolina. 

“I mean, it was just all new. New AD, everything was just new in the whole program,” Ready said, “It was the uncertainty of a lot of different things.”

This time, luck was in his favor. Staley’s other candidate for the position had complications getting into the school. While it did not guarantee him a spot, Ready had a chance. 

“So, my thought process was just to do what I do. Show them what I can do,” Ready said. “I had a little window to showcase my value to the program, so I made myself indispensable.” 

That same season, Ready’s dedication to his group of players was showcased firsthand. Sutton, Staley’s first Gamecock recruit and freshman at South Carolina, got in a minor car accident.

Ready was immediately there for her after it happened.

“He literally went out of his way [to help me],” Sutton said. “Anytime I had to go to the airport, he didn’t mind driving me to the airport. Like, he went above and beyond to serve the players and coaches.” 

Seeing his value, Staley allowed Ready to continue his degree, graduating in December 2009. However, soon came formal interviews to remain.

“I mean, it was a dress-up interview, because there were other applicants at the time. She didn’t guarantee me a spot,” Ready said. “So, I mean, there was still the uncertainty of it. And then knowing one of her former players was coming on staff … It was a true uncertainty of it.” 

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In 2010, Ready was promoted from graduate assistant to director of player development, a role he has held ever since. The promotion showed the young South Carolina coach he had proven himself, that he had shown his worth.

“When I saw the title, I was like, ‘Ok!’ Because in women’s basketball, you didn’t have that position. Football, when they create new positions, it trickles down to other sports,” Ready said. “ … It was a fairly new position … When that position came about, I think I was one of the first people in college basketball with that title. 

But, don’t get it twisted. He may have a fancier title, but he’s still helping out his players wherever he can, even if it’s printing a new scouting report because someone forgot theirs.

“With my position, it’s kind of misleading. You can do it on the basketball side, or you can do it on the developmental side outside of basketball, and that’s where mine differentiates,” Ready said. “Some schools, they allow that person to be on the court. Mine can be on the academic, personal development, and social development. So, I had to figure that part out too.” 

The title is the title; however, there is nothing he won’t do to help the program, Ready said. 

Sacrifice

The longtime assistant is not doing this work alone, either. Ready is joined by a wide-ranging support staff at South Carolina, from operations director Arianna Moore to video coordinator Hudson Jacobs. 

“Whatever is needed, we do … There’s no job too big or too small for us, whether that’s helping someone move in or staying after, whatever it is,” Ready said. “If I see Coach Staley out there ready to wipe the floor, that shows me I can do it as well.” 

Having that support staff helps tremendously, especially for newcomers like Ayla McDowell. 

“They’ve been here a while to know how everything works around here,” McDowell told GamecockCentral. “Anything you need, just go to them and ask for it. They’re always willing to help, and they’ll always have people around them who are also willing to help you.” 

Their support is crucial, McDowell said. There are even some things that the South Carolina support staff does behind the scenes that the players don’t even know, she said. 

“When they come here, their parents entrust us with their kids,” Ready said. “ … They entrust us with their safety, they run out of gas on the side of the road, myself or Ari [Moore] will be the first person they call … We’re their parents away from their parents or their guardians away from their guardians.”  

The ability to share roles allows everyone involved to know that their jobs will be done and done well, Ready said. 

“I help Ari with things; she helps me with things. We all work to the common goal of making Coach’s job easier,” Ready said. “The main goal is to win the national championship, so, by any means necessary, let’s get it.” 

Beyond Measure

After over two decades with the program, Ready’s life in South Carolina athletics has come full circle. The undergraduate who, thanks to connections with practice players, considered interning with the program now leads the Highlighters.

Today, fans see the Gamecocks as a top program—a titan of women’s collegiate basketball. Two decades ago, everything was uncharted territory. 

Making the Sweet 16 for the first time in 2011-12 opened the floodgates to what could be done at South Carolina. 2017’s championship realized it. 

“Then it was like, we’ve made it. What next? Let’s try to do it again,” Ready said. “Like, you’re never satisfied, but you always take the time to embrace that moment. 

Some get used to the championships. However, there is always someone new to it. April’s national championship game may have been the program’s fifth appearance, but for five Gamecocks, it marked their first. 

Ready said he’s enjoying the ride at South Carolina as the years go on. The impact Staley has on women’s basketball is contagious, he said.

“That ride, it helps me fulfill my dream of helping kids be the first to graduate in their families. A camper coming to USC as a Little Gamecock camper, being recruited, then seeing them graduate at USC,” Ready said. “That keeps me around. Just seeing those kids graduate and become successful business people … It’s just that loyalty and that family, it’s kind of hard to get away from.”

Maybe a day will come when Freddy is ready to move past the program. For now, he’s right at home where he wants to be. 

NEW! Message board for South Carolina Women’s Basketball!