What quotes by South Carolina stood out at SEC Media Days

Shane Beamer

“To answer your question about relying on the portal, to me it’s really where we were. Receiver-wise when we lost a first-round draft pick in Xavier Legette. We needed to replace him, we are very young. We needed to get some production, experience in there. We did that.

If you look at our defense last year, defensive line or Top 3 — Top 4 tackles all returned. TJ Sanders, Boogie Huntley, Nick, Barrett, and Tonka Hemingway. They got worn down last year because we didn’t have a lot of depth. We brought in some transfers that have played in the SEC that will help us be better there. Same thing at linebacker. We’ve had a three-man rotation at linebacker last year. We’ve added some freshmen that will play for us this year, but also added some transfers from Power 5 schools that will help us up.

Really to answer your question, really for us just getting more depth at every position and getting some experience as well at every position.”

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• Beamer had plenty to say on Monday with numerous quotes standing out. This one in particular stood out to me because of how South Carolina attacked the transfer portal this offseason. The days of looking solely at what a team’s recruiting ranking is each year when it comes to high school players are over. Now, it’s a combination of high school recruiting, retention, and the transfer portal. South Carolina got better at multiple positions this offseason because they were able to flip rooms using the the portal. But at the same time too, as Beamer explained, some of that had to do with their needs. Do I believe moving forward we’ll see the Gamecocks use the transfer portal as much as they did this offseason? No, at least not by design. Beamer and this staff will still look to build the core of their team from recruiting high school players. The portal is like taking a shot of espresso. If they feel they need a boost at a position, like they did at wide receiver, running back, and linebacker this offseason, they won’t shy away from taking advantage of it.

Luke Doty

“(Rocket Sanders is) all about business, and that’s what I’ve seen from him from the day that he stepped on campus. He comes in every single day early in the morning to do treatment, get his body right for the day, and then obviously work out. He’ll go, do more treatment. Come back in the afternoon, maybe do some more stuff with the running backs.

He does everything the right way. He’s the kind of guy that younger running backs, younger guys on the team, they look up to him and they see how he handles himself on a daily basis because he carries himself like a pro. I think that’s going to pay off for him this year, going forward, just being able to stay out there on the field and have a big-time role on offense.”

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• Despite missing spring practices due to having shoulder surgery in the offseason, hearing more and more stories like this on Rocket makes me think two things. The first is that we could be on the verge of seeing the 2022 version of Rocket who led the SEC in rushing. The second is that although he hasn’t suited up yet, his teammates respect him because of the way he carries himself. Hype can only get a player so far with his teammates. Especially a transfer who is coming back an injury. At the end of the day it’s about your commitment. Being in a new locker room with new faces, Rocket has controlled what he can by attacking rehab, losing weight, and doing so with a positive attitude that is quickly turning him into a leader.

Debo Williams

“With the younger guys coming in, once they see the standard they’ll know that this is what we have to do. Then, that will gravitate towards the young guys once I’m gone. I’m just trying to be the best leader that I can be so that this defense can be the best defense that South Carolina has ever seen.”

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• Williams had a few quotes that grabbed my attention, including how the defense is, “going for donuts.” But to me, the bigger quote from him was how he’s making sure that the younger players can keep this thing going for years to come. While some guys have an extra season of eligibility after this season if they choose to use it, there are 13 senior scholarship defenders on South Carolina’s 2024 roster. While there is a lot of young talent on the rise, as well as some juniors as well, they’ll be a big passing of the torch next offseason when it comes to leadership on defense. Especially if Nick Emmanwori flirts with the idea of declaring for the 2025 NFL Draft.

Alex Huntley

“First step (in improving our defense), we’ve got a lot of guys who came in who have put immediate impact on our team, on our defense. That’s something that, obviously, helps you in every aspect.

I think last year didn’t go the way anybody on the team wanted it, and I think we all came back from that with a real big chip on our shoulder, ready to work, ready to just do what we’ve got to do to win because that’s the only thing on our minds right now is win.”

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• I blame the number of Oklahoma questions Huntley was asked, which led to him not having as much to pick from when it came to quotes that stood out. Out of them all, this is the one I went with because it hits on something that South Carolina lacked last year – proven talent. Now, some of that proven talent have proved themselves at other schools, and will need to prove themselves at USC, but that’s still a big difference compared to where things were for the Gamecocks last year. Put offensive to the side. Defensively, South Carolina went into the 2023 thin at multiple positions and lacked a lot of proven experience. When injuries popped up, it became more evident, outside of the emergence of then true freshman Jalon Kilgore. When you look at this year’s team, there’s a lot of experienced players on all three levels. Competition shouldn’t only bring the best out of guys this fall but it should also give them more depth than they’ve had in a long time on defense.

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