PLAY-BY-PLAY ANNOUNCER ALLEGEDLY FORCED OUT, APPLICATIONS POURING IN

University of South Carolina officials say applications are pouring in to replace popular sports announcer Mike Morgan, who resigned under pressure last month.

The school will hire someone to cover Morgan’s play-by-play duties for men’s basketball and baseball broadcasts.

The State reported that Athletics director Eric Hyman will conduct the search as he did when hiring basketball coaches Darrin Horn and Dawn Staley last year.

A spokesman for the school’s media-rights holder said South Carolina has received a large number of applications for Morgan’s former position. But what exactly happened to cause the opening is still uncertain.

The FITSNews blog wrote last week that Morgan was forced out after allegedly exposing the BurnLounge pyramid scheme, which had deep roots in the Gamecock community.

According to the blog, Gamecock Sports Properties General Manager Liz McMillan reportedly recommended Morgan be fired because she “held Morgan responsible for BurnLounge being exposed.”

Former Gamecock football star Rob DeBoer’s involvement with BurnLounge cost him sideline reporting job.

DeBoer’s former fellow announcer Todd Ellis, however, has not been removed from his post doing football play-by-play despite claims that he too was active in recruiting people to BurnLounge, which federal authorities called a “classic pyramid scheme.”

Photo: The State