South Carolina got it right with their SEC Media Days trio
On Monday the SEC announced the trio of South Carolina players who’ll be joining Shane Beamer at this year’s SEC Media Days in Dallas.
Those players are defensive lineman Alex ‘Boogie’ Huntley, linebacker Debo Williams, and athlete Luke Doty. Seeing those names shouldn’t surprise anyone. Just this past week I mentioned the three Gamecocks who I was expecting see to attend. Those players were Williams, Huntley, and Vershon Lee with Doty and Hunter Rogers receiving my honorable mention invites. From the responses I received, it seemed like most of you had at least two of those three in there as well. Let’s break it down.
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– Williams and Huntley seemed like no-brainers, especially considering they’re the only two captains remaining from last year’s six that were chosen at the end of the season. With how talented this defense looks on paper, it just makes sense to send two defensive players this year to SEC Media Days.
– Doty will represent the offense, which is an honor he’s earned. He’s been committed to the program from Day 1 but let’s not act like this is just a charity. The Myrtle Beach native had more receptions last season than any other returning USC WR. From listening to what both his coaches and teammates said in the spring, he’s expected to be right in the mix to compete for some serious playing time at WR.
– Regardless of how much attention LaNorris Sellers would’ve received, South Carolina wasn’t gonna send him. It would’ve sent the wrong message ahead of fall camp to Robbie Ashford and the other QBs after Beamer made it clear that Sellers is the starter coming out of SPRING practices.
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– While many of us believe that Sellers will be the Week 1 starter, Beamer expressed that he expects him to continue to “compete and earn” that position. Don’t overthink it. Reward the upperclassman (Doty) while also using this as a way to motivate the young star who will have more opportunities to attend the event in the future.
– I’ve seen some disappointed that Nick Emmanwori wasn’t included. That’s fair. What I would say though is, who would you take him out for? You know it would’ve have to be someone on defense so that would mean either Williams or Huntley. Both Williams and Huntley did good things last season and at least in my eyes, I would take that those two this year with Emmanwori being my No.3 defensive pick.
