Dylan Stewart debuts, LaNorris Sellers takes over and South Carolina overhauls WR room
Shane Beamer’s South Carolina football team starts spring practice on Tuesday, the first of 15 workouts that will span five weeks and culminate with the April 20 spring game.
Here are some of the top storylines to follow with the Gamecocks, who are looking to bounce back from a 5-7 season:
What’s there at receiver?
The Gamecocks weren’t deep at receiver in the 2023 season, and still lost their three most productive players.
Raw five-star Nyck Harbor is back, along with transfers like Gage Larvadain and Jared Brown, plus young returners in Tyshawn Russell and Elijah Caldwell, and freshmen Mazeo Bennett and Debron Gatling. In short, there are names on the roster but no one is proven.
If the staff — including new position coach Mike Furrey — comes out of camp feeling good about multiple guys, it goes a long way to making life easier on a new quarterback.
Does anyone emerge at LB next to Debo Williams?
After the transfers of Stone Blanton and Pup Howard, the Gamecocks reloaded at linebacker.
Bangally Kamara was a solid player at Pitt, while Charlotte transfer Demetrius Knight Jr. adds athleticism. Bam Martin-Scott and Jaron Willis thrived late last season in more limited roles, and a pair of well-regarded freshmen joined the roster.
Sorting this out almost assuredly will go through August. If a couple of guys like Kamara or Knight show well, it leaves the position in a much better place.
Finding clarity on the offensive line
It seems extremely likely that returning tackle Tree Babalade and versatile option Vershon Lee will start in 2024. After that, it’s more up in the air. Guards Jakai Moore and Trovon Baugh have started games, but aren’t established commodities. Four transfers joined up, as did a trio of well-regarded freshmen.
If South Carolina can leave spring feeling strongly about at least one starter (and maybe a little depth), it’s a big step in a good direction for a unit that was banged up and struggled last season.
What kind of freshman is Dylan Stewart?
Coaches will often say that playing on the lines is one of the hardest things to do early in college, and you see different kinds of roles for players in those spots. Sometimes a freshman hardly plays at all. Sometimes it’s a few snaps here and there behind others.
Sometimes you get someone like D.J. Wonnum who is a solid, bonafide backup. And every so often, someone really shines.
Dylan Stewart is a freak talent. A five-star defensive end with a high ceiling. So if he can come to camp and make veteran tackles sweat, it can start to point to the sort of freshman he’ll be.
The LaNorris Sellers show at QB
A quarterback can’t truly prove himself in spring, but he can make an impression.
For better or worse, a lot of eyes will be on LaNorris Sellers, the redshirt freshman from Florence. The hype has built to a massive degree within the Gamecocks ecosystem. Now he’ll get his first crack — not as the touted freshman set to be the future, but as a very real part of the present.
