COLUMBIA, S.C. — Under the generous shade of oak trees in a parking lot across the street from Williams-Brice Stadium last Thursday afternoon, as many as 100 people mingled between a catered buffet and a trailer with an amply loaded bar.

Their host was Joe Rice, a South Carolina graduate (college and law school), a successful Charleston lawyer and a booster who in the last decade has, with his wife, Lisa, donated about $5 million to the Gamecocks athletic program.

Tailgate guests included an old friend who was Alpha Tau Omega’s treasurer when Rice was its president, the wife of a top South Carolina football recruiter and the 5-year-old daughter of a lawyer in Rice’s firm who could say on demand, “Beat those Clemson Tigers.” (The game that night was against Texas A&M.)

Also present was Dean Felber, a 1989 graduate, a winemaker and the bass player in a notable Columbia export, Hootie & the Blowfish. “Everyone knows Joe,” Felber said.