Dowell Loggains shares why freshman back Djay Braswell 'needs to have a really good camp'
In just one week, South Carolina will begin its fall camp and prepare for the start of the regular season.
There’s a lot of excitement in the air for the third year of the Shane Beamer era. But just like any team, there are always some question marks. For the Gamecocks, it’s the running back room.
The running back depth is not necessarily ideal. There’s some great talent, but it’s unclear how it’ll pan out.
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With some uncertainty, it could give unproven names a chance to step up. One guy that could fit this narrative is incoming freshman Djay Braswell.
“He’s got different playing speed,” offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains said. “He’s had a chance to go through the summer program…You love the kids that are able to enroll early because you get that spring ball so important.”
Braswell did not go through spring practice with South Carolina but was able to go through the entire summer and new NCAA rules allow coaching staffs more time than ever with their teams during that time of year.
A four-star back out of Washington County (Ga.) High School, Braswell checked in at No. 229 overall in the On3 rankings for the 2023 class.
The talent is there. He rushed for 974 yards as a senior, averaging 6.8 yards per carry. One year earlier, he ran 80 times for 1,091 yards and 11 touchdowns.
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Braswell, who ran track in high school, won the Georgia 2A state 100-meter title as a junior with a clocking of 10.72 and captured the 200m gold in 21.99 — so he brings speed to the room.
But Loggains knows he and the staff need to do their homework on Braswell going into the fall.
“He’s one of those freshmen that we need to get a great evaluation on early to see what he can and can’t handle,” Loggains said. “There’s probably a pretty good chance that he could be asked, if he has a camp that we need him to have, that he might fulfill a role in the fall as a freshman.”
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Since Braswell arrived on campus, Loggains has seen nothing but good things from him.
“We got to see some of that with how well he prepares and how he learns and the confidence that comes from demonstrated ability,” he said.
At the same time, the talent means nothing if it doesn’t translate to the college level. So that’s why Loggains believes he needs to have a great camp.
“When you’re looking at camp, you’re like, ‘Hey, who in the camp needs to have a really good camp for us to be the team we want to be?’ And his name is going to be at the top of that list,” Loggains said.
