Shane Beamer on Nyckoles Harbor's physical stature: 'He's eye-opening'

Nyckoles Harbor is the most-anticipated football recruit to make his way to South Carolina during the Shane Beamer era. Until recently, he was the highest-rated recruit during Beamer’s tenure, and anticipation is building for him to make his debut for the Gamecocks.

His speed has been well-documented — to the tune of a 10.38 100-meter dash. But it’s his “physical stature” that left Beamer more than impressed.

“He’s eye-opening, without a doubt, from just a physical stature standpoint,” Beamer told Andy Staples on Andy Staples On3. “Take the speed out of it. Just his height. The guy’s 243 pounds today, as we record this. Has size, has athleticism. He’s a great kid. Great young man. He works really, really hard. Football’s important to him. … He’s got toughness.”

As someone who ran track in high school — and will do so at South Carolina — Beamer said Harbor could just be known for his speed. But he’s not backing down from the physical nature of the game, and that adds to the excitement around him.

“Sometimes, when you bring a guy out that’s also ‘a track guy,’ all they want to do is run fast and not deal with the physicality that football is. Not him,” Beamer said. “He likes the physical part of it. He’s got a competitive spirit to him. [He’s an] awesome young man that works really, really hard. Excited he’s with us.”

Harbor was the crown jewel of South Carolina’s 2023 recruiting class. A five-star prospect, he was the No. 21-ranked recruit in the nation from the cycle, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

Beamer has said Harbor will play largely wide receiver this year even though it wasn’t his full-time position in high school. But new NCAA rules allowed the staff, including wide receivers coach Justin Stepp, to work with him and help get him up to speed.

That’s why Beamer seemed confident Harbor would handle the transition just fine.

“Justin Stepp and our offensive coaches will be able to really work with him individually and directly from a mental and physical standpoint, getting him ready for practice, which is something that we weren’t able to do in recent years,” Beamer said. “So between all of that, getting him out there, and again, we never want to do anything with a player that he can’t do, but Nyck is really athletic and instinctive and he’ll be fine making that transition.”