Denmark Technical College Receives $5,000 From Alumni For Women's Basketball Tournament

Denmark Technical College's National Alumni Association presented the school's women's basketball program with a $5,000 donation to fund the team's trip to the USCAA National Tournament and provide scholarships for student-athletes.

The gift arrives as the Panthers earned the fifth seed in the 2026 USCAA National Championship, the highest postseason ranking in program history. Denmark Tech only gained full USCAA membership in the 2025-26 academic year, making the tournament berth all the more significant. The program's previous national appearance came more than a decade ago, when the team competed under the NJCAA.

As the fifth seed, the Panthers drew a first-round matchup against fourth-seeded Bryant & Stratton College of Buffalo, with tipoff slated for 4:45 p.m. Head coach Javon Gilliard, who also serves as athletic director, has built the program around developing players for transfer to four-year universities while competing for conference and national recognition.

The alumni donation covers both travel costs for the tournament run and scholarship support for the players making the trip. The National Alumni Association, which maintains a directory of annual and lifetime members connected to the Denmark, South Carolina campus, has positioned alumni giving as a direct pipeline to student opportunity. The $5,000 contribution puts concrete financial support behind what the program is calling its most important postseason run to date.

For a college of Denmark Tech's size, the combination of a national tournament seat and dedicated alumni funding signals a program gaining momentum well beyond Bamberg County.