Which South Carolina newcomers have already impressed Jalon Kilgore
In less than a month-and-a-half, South Carolina football will report for fall camp. When they do, they’ll be several new faces, both from the transfer portal and from the high school ranks.
Having a chance to already see some of those new additions in the spring, sophomore safety Jalon Kilgore shared which newcomers have already stood out to him.
“On offense, I would say Mazeo (Bennett). Mazeo has definitely been looking good on offense,” said Kilgore, in a recent interview on The Welcome Home Podcast. “He’s given us a good look in practice and real game reps. He likes to get at it. He likes to compete and that’s what I like about him.”
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Given the fact that South Carolina’s wide receiver room will feature 50 percent of new faces on scholarships, they’ll be an opportunity for Bennett to compete for playing time. Even with the additions of transfer wide outs Dalevon Campbell and Vandrevius Jacobs, Bennett has already been able to get acclimated to the playbook in 15 practices. His ability to not only create separation with an advance knowledge of route running for his grade but also being able to pick the playbook quickly will have him competing for a top-six spot at WR this season.
“Defensively, everybody already knows about Dylan (Stewart). So somebody else, I would say safety David Bucey,” said Kilgore. “He’s been looking real good. That boy, he’s a country-Georgia boy for real. He’s coming down to smack something. He’s not playing. In the weight room, he reminds me of me. He never misses a rep, never considered the weak link — he’s trying to get somebody’s spot. That’s what I like about him.”
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While South Carolina’s safety room is full of experience and talent, starting with returns like Kilgore, Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith, having more depth is never a bad thing. Standing at 6-0, 186 pounds, Bucey committed to the Gamecocks last summer and enrolled into the university in January. A Savannah, GA native, Bucey racked up over 100 tackles including four sacks as a junior. He also had five interceptions and shined at wide out with over 700 yards receiving. His play earned him Georgia 3A Athlete of the Year honors in 2022.
If you paid attention to some of the comments Shane Beamer made during National Signing Day this past December, he made a point to say that he felt like there weren’t enough people talking about Bucey.
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“They asked me one guy not enough people are talking about and I said David Bucey and Michael Smith. There’s a lot of guys I could say that about but these two players, both from Savannah, rival high schools — David played for the state championship, Michael was a game away.”
