South Carolina freshman wide receivers look to make impact in first year

South Carolina brought in six freshman wide receivers in its No. 18-ranked recruiting class for 2025. Five of those freshmen enrolled in the spring for a chance to get a jump-start on their development.

Through the first three days of spring practice, Mike Furrey’s group of new receivers have impressed him while setting records.

“You know, Brian Rowe’s pretty explosive, when you look at a 40/41-inch vertical I think he had maybe two weeks ago,” Furrey said. “And then Lex Cyrus gets in there and breaks the school record for vertical, hadn’t even stepped on the field yet.”

Rowe and Cyrus were both four-star prospects coming out of high school. Both athletes also ran track and field before arriving at South Carolina.

Furrey said on his way out of his time with the media Tuesday that Cyrus put up a 40.5-inch vertical.

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South Carolina did an unconventional thing in this age of college athletics. The Gamecocks did not bring in a single receiver through the transfer portal.

It’s not that they were against doing so, either. Furrey said that they had conversations about many players who wanted to join the roster.

As conversations led by Coach Shane Beamer progressed, they decided they didn’t want to take time away from returning players. The staff also didn’t want to take any time away from developing their incoming class.

“But at the same time, we didn’t want to miss on something maybe that, you know, a kid that wanted to be here at South Carolina, wanted to come here and help this football team win,” Furrey said.

Everything, in the end, came down to a matter of if the player fit the program’s mentality or not. While he thought it would be nice to bring in someone with maybe one year left of eligibility, it was important they were joining for the right reasons.

“And in the end, it really was just stick with what we believe we have coming back,” Furrey said. “And it’s my job as a wide receiver coach to develop the guys coming back. I told Coach Beamer, it’s my job to make sure these young freshmen are where we want to be.”

As the team progresses through the early stages of camp, Furrey said he’s looking to identify his newcomers’ strengths.

“You’ve got to put them in positions to allow their strengths just to be able to take over and not give them too much,” Furrey said. “…So we kind of identify them and meet them at one position for right now so they can get their feet underneath them.”

Furrey also said the group of young wideouts all have many things in common. He said he finds similarities in their ball skills, big catch radius, and ability to run.

Furrey expects the freshmen coming in to also help with some of the returning players’ growth.

“I told Nyck this other day, the best thing that ever could happen to Nyck is these six freshmen are coming in,” Furrey said. “Because they’re gonna come in here, they can do it right and do as fast as they can.”

Growth across the board will become important as Mike Shula transitions South Carolina’s offense to having more balance. Shula said Monday during his time with the media he wants to build the offense to where LaNorris Sellers can run the ball when he wants, but primarily work as a passer.

“We want him to run because he wants to, not because he has to,” Shula said. “… We want to have him upright in throwing the football, so he’s not gonna be a running back where he’s carrying it 25 times a game. That’s part of his growing process.”

While the majority of those incoming freshmen are starting in the spring, one awaits his May arrival to campus. Donovan Murph is finishing his high school degree and will join his fellow receivers in Cyrus, Rowe Jr, Malik Clark, Jayden Sellers, and Jordon Gidron in the summer months. Murph is the cousin of Gamecock great Alshon Jeffery and ranked as a four-star prospect by On3’s Industry Ranking.

Murph isn’t the only freshman receiver with Carolina connections. Former three-star prospect Jayden Sellers is the younger brother of South Carolina starting quarterback LaNorris Sellers.

Murph, alongside Gidron, reclassified to the class from 2026. Both his and Gidron’s decisions were family driven, Furrey said.

“The biggest thing was, was we let that happen on its own. We didn’t force any of that,” Furrey said. “We didn’t want to do anything where we ruined any relationship with any high school coach that’s taking a kid from their senior year that they’re relying on playing.”

The pair are players who belong in college now from a physicality, size, and speed standpoint according to Furrey.

“We’re excited now that Jordon’s here, which is, which is even crazier to think that he really should be in his junior year, in the spring of junior year,” Furrey said. “But it’s awesome that he’s here now, and it’ll be great when Murph shows up.”

Shula said the energy among the freshmen is great. The group is full of players who study hard and are contentious, asking questions where they can.

“I think these guys are, they understand that they have a potential opportunity to play early,” Shula said. “But they also, for young guys, at least early, they understand that it’s gonna take a lot of work.”

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