South Carolina WR Dakereon Joyner announces decision to return with Gamecocks

South Carolina wide receiver Dakereon Joyner will return to school for the 2023 season, he announced on Sunday.

A four-star prospect in the 2018 recruiting class in South Carolina’s On3 consensus rating, Joyner first came to South Carolina as a quarterback. Joyner did not play significant enough time at that spot, though, resulting in a position switch ahead of the 2020 season. During his five seasons as a Gamecock, Joyner has 325 yards and four touchdowns rushing, while totaling 442 yards and four touchdowns receiving.

Joyner was part of a South Carolina team that went 8-4 in the regular season in the second year of the Shane Beamer era. The Gamecocks then faced Notre Dame in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, a game in which Joyner not only ran and caught passes, but also threw one pass attempt, which he completed for 18 yards.

The Gamecocks started out hot and fought down to the very end, but they would end up coming up seven points shy of the win, 45-38 against Notre Dame. The season made head coach Shane Beamer 15-11 in two seasons as the head coach of the Gamecocks. After the game, Beamer reflected on what the program has accomplished since he arrived.

“Yeah, we’ve accomplished a lot, to come in, and very few people, I think, thought in 2021 that we’d finish the season in a bowl game, and we finished the season in a bowl game, in a bowl victory in Charlotte last year,” Beamer said. “There’s a lot of people that probably didn’t think that we were going to — we had a tough schedule this year and people didn’t think we may be that bowl game this year, and not only did we get in a bowl game, we’ve won eight games and nationally ranked coming into this game, so we’ve made a ton of progress, and it’s just the beginning.”

Joyner’s return will allow them to accomplish more together.

Joyner returns, more on the 2023 NFL Draft

The 2023 NFL Draft is set to take place from Thursday, April 27 through Saturday, April 29 in Kansas City, Missouri. The event will be held at the plaza just outside of Union Station.

Round 1 of the NFL Draft is set to begin at 8 p.m. ET on Thursday, Apr. 27. Rounds 2-3 will begin at 7 p.m. ET on Friday, Apr. 28, and Rounds 4-7 will begin at 12 p.m. ET on Saturday, Apr. 29. The draft will be broadcasted throughout the weekend on both ESPN and NFL Network.

To be eligible for the NFL Draft, players must be at least three years removed from their final year of high school while having used up their collegiate eligibility. Underclassmen are able to request league approval to become eligible for the draft, as are players who have graduated prior to using up all of their collegiate eligibility. 100 underclassmen were approved for last year’s draft. 73 of those 100 underclassmen were granted special eligibility while 27 of them were underclassmen who had completed their college degrees.

The 2023 NFL scouting combine will take place from Feb. 28 through March 6 in Indianapolis.