Dakereon Joyner's message to team on Tuesday
Dakereon Joyner is one of South Carolina’s leaders. A South Carolina team who is (2-6) who still has four games to go.
I can only imagine how frustrating this season has been for this team, but especially for someone like Joyner who returned for a sixth season. Whether it be the record or maybe how things haven’t gone exactly the way he envisioned them going from an individual standpoint, Joyner has every reason to feel sorry for himself. And yet, he’s not. Which is the same message he delivered the team on Tuesday morning before practice.
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“As a team we still have a lot ahead of us,” said Joyner. “We still have four games that we can definitely win and flip the script on this year. I told the guys this morning, despite our record find some joy because we have four games left together. We have four guaranteed games left. We have three more Tuesday practices after today so we need to find some joy. Enjoy every single moment, take advantage of every single moment and just enjoy being with each other.”
While historically South Carolina has had plenty of down years, what’s easy to forget is that the majority of the team hasn’t experienced losing. At least not as Gamecocks. With a team made up of 26 true freshmen and a combination of 25 redshirted freshmen and sophomores, that’s nearly half of South Carolina’s roster. Add in 16 redshirt sophomores and three sophomores and the majority of this team have only experienced USC winning seven or more games each year.
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The point is, guys like Joyner are crucial for a program who is battling through adversity. Not just in hopes to turn things around this season but to teach the young guys on the team how to embrace the suck.
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“That’s a great leader,” said linebacker Debo Williams. “Of course we want to go out with a bang for him because somebody like him, he’s selfless. He’s gonna do whatever is best for the team so how can you not want to go 125 percent for a person like that?”
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That messaged Joyner delivered the team on Tuesday made it’s way back to Shane Beamer who passionately expressed his appreciation for the way his team continues to work.
“Does it really stink to come in here after a loss? Yeah,” said Shane Beamer. “Does it really stink to be 2-6 right now? Yeah. But, are our guys still excited to come out here and work each day and practice and be with one another? Yes… We have four guaranteed games left, and hopefully a fifth one after that, and we’re gonna make the most out of each and every single day. You would’ve thought we were playing for the Super Bowl with the way that we practiced out there today. It’s because we have great kids.”
