Beamer pleased with Elijah Davis' play at defensive end in South Carolina spring game
South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer has built a fine reputation for finding diamonds in the rough. He’s been notorious for taking chances on players from smaller schools.
One of those players was 6-foot-3, 285-pound defensive lineman Elijah Davis. Beamer came across him in 2020, the same year he was hired.
“I was watching video of him when he was at Wagener-Salley (High School) and was really impressed with him as a player,” Beamer said. “Obviously, he went to East Mississippi Community College for a couple years but obviously kept eyes on him. That was a big recruiting battle that we won to get him here.”
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After two years at East Mississippi, Davis received offers from schools such as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Ole Miss and Tennessee, becoming a four-star and one of the top JUCO prospects in the country. Ultimately, the Palmetto State native wanted to stay home and play for the Gamecocks.
It wasn’t the smoothest transition when he first arrived, though.
“He’ll be the first to tell you, he probably came in a little out of shape. It took him a little bit to get acclimated to our off-season program, but I think he’s had two really good weeks to finish up spring practice,” Beamer said.
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Davis’ strong finish culminated in a terrific outing in the team’s Garnet and Black spring game Saturday night. Playing defensive end, he recorded three tackles and two sacks. He also forced a fumble on Tanner Bailey, with Jamaal Whyce recovering the football.
It didn’t matter who was in front of him, Davis was going to get to the quarterback. His frame and explosiveness made it a challenge for South Carolina’s offensive tackles to stop him. As it turned out, he consistently created pressure and made some big plays.
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“He’s a lot like Tonka (Hemingway). He can play on the interior and he’s athletic enough to play out there on the edge at defensive end,” Beamer said. “Excited about him as he continues to get better.”
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Davis was one of many to work at defensive end, a position that has been incredibly thin during the spring.
“It’s been a little bit of a challenge all spring, certainly a challenge tonight when you don’t have many guys out there,” Beamer said. “But it definitely is a benefit because it forces some of those other guys to, the more you can do the better. We want to get our best 11 on the field, whoever they are.”
Davis has continued to impress Beamer, along with others taking on the position this spring.
“We’ve got some guys that showed this spring they can do multiple things, and we’ve got to continue to build that,” Beamer said.
