USC baseball adds third name to Founders Park wall with Kip Bouknight jersey retirement

Standing in front of the South Carolina dugout before Friday’s game against Auburn, Kip Bouknight paused for a moment to sift through the emotions he was feeling.

A few minutes prior, Bouknight’s No. 14 became just the third jersey to adorn the Founders Park wall, joining his former head coach Ray Tanner’s No. 1 and former pitcher Earl Bass’ No. 13.

Tanner and Bouknight’s family joined him in front of home plate for the jersey retirement ceremony, then Bouknight threw out the ceremonial first pitch.

“It’s hard to put into words what it means to me,” Bouknight said from the field. “I eat, sleep and drink South Carolina baseball. I grew up from here and just the time I had here was amazing.

“And I just hope that all the fans are able to look at my name out there and see the era that I played in and remember all the great teammates I had.”

A Columbia native who pitched for his hometown school from 1998-2001, Bouknight is the winningest pitcher in school history with a 45-12 career record. The former ace holds several other Gamecock pitching records including innings (482), games pitched (66) and strikeouts (457). Bouknight famously won the Golden Spikes Award in the 2000 season after going 17-1 and helping to lead the Gamecocks to a 56-10 season.

Bouknight was one of the first great players of the Tanner era, which began in 1997 and culminated in College World Series titles in 2010 and 2011. The former ace said this year’s No. 3 Gamecocks (34-6, 13-4 SEC) under Mark Kingston remind him of some of the teams he played on, especially with how loose they’ve played throughout the season.

Bouknight’s jersey is the first retired by USC this year after the football team retired Jadeveon Clowney’s jersey last season. Under USC policy, there’s a five-year waiting period for jersey retirement for student-athletes, and the school no longer retires jersey numbers.

With just three Gamecock greats honored on the outfield wall, Bouknight said there’s room for more of his former teammates to gain recognition.

“There’s a lot of other folks who deserve it,” Bouknight said. “And I really hope that this outfield wall is filled up with Gamecock legends in the near future.”

USC retired jerseys

FOOTBALL

#2 Sterling Sharpe (1983, 85-87)

#7 Jadeveon Clowney (2011-13)

#37 Steve Wadiak (1948-51)

#38 George Rogers (1977-80)

#56 Mike Johnson (1964)

MEN’S BASKETBALL

#3 BJ McKie (1996-99)

#11 John Roche (1968-71)

#22 Alex English (1972-76)

#42 Grady Wallace (1955-57)

#43 Kevin Joyce (1970-71)

WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

#13 Martha Parker (1985-89)

#14 Shannon Johnson (1992-96)

#53 Sheila Foster (1978-82)

BASEBALL

#1 Ray Tanner (1997-2012)

#13 Earl Bass (1972-75)

#14 Kip Bouknight (1998-2001)

SOFTBALL

#11 Trinity Johnson (1995-97)

Joyce Compton (1987-2010)

WOMEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Miki Barber (1999-2003)

Dawn Ellerbe (1992-97)

MEN’S TRACK AND FIELD

Terrence Trammell (1998-200)

MEN’S SOCCER

Clint Mathis (1994-97)