South Carolina Gamecocks' 2024 Prospect Outlook

The South Carolina Gamecocks have had some inconsistencies over the years, especially under the direction of head coach Will Muschamp who parted ways with the program in 2021. Shane Beamer was named as Muschamp's replacement as head coach, and has become a fan favorite over his time with the Gamecocks. Heading into year four of his tenure with South Carolina, Beamer hopes to continue the gradual improvements made in his first three.

The Gamecocks are coming off of a 5-7 season during which they went 3-5 in conference play. Their schedule was a tough one with games against Tennessee, Missouri, Clemson and Georgia which proved to be too much for the Gamecocks.

South Carolina had a few drafted players in the NFL Draft in April. WR Xavier Legette was drafted in the first round with the 32nd pick to the Carolina Panthers. QB Spencer Rattler went 150th to the Saints and CB Marcellus Dial was selected 180th to the Patriots. The final player drafted from South Carolina was OL Nick Gargiulo who went with the 256th pick to the Denver Broncos.

South Carolina also had some notable departures in the transfer portal over the offseason. On the defensive side, they lost a pair of linebackers in Stone Blanton and Grayson Howard. They also lost safety Isaiah Norris to the portal. On offense, WR Juice Wells transferred to SEC for Ole Miss, and a pair of offensive lineman also left for new homes.

With all these departures, the Gamecocks needed to load up through the portal and with recruits. They managed to do so, securing a huge “get” for their offense in RB Raheim "Rocket" Sanders from Arkansas. He has proven to be a reliable option on the ground for an SEC team and should help carry their offense, and RS freshman QB, LaNorris Sellers. They also got wide receivers Vondreveous Jacobs and Jared Brown from Florida State and Coastal Carolina who could prove to be a big help for a young QB. The offensive line has become strengthened through the portal as well which will help new RB Raheim Sanders to lead this offense. 

Defensively, the Gamecocks got two Pitt transfers in LB Bangally Kamara and S Buddy Mack. These players should come in and be leaders in the locker room, taking advantage of their experience.

Heading into this year, South Carolina had a few players on preseason award watch lists. Below are the players and the awards they have been nominated for.

• WR Dalevon Campbell - Earl Campbell Tyler Rose Award
• TE Brady Hunt - Comeback Player of the Year Award
• DT Tonka Hemingway - Chuck Bednarik Award
• DT Alex Huntley - Wuerffel Trophy for Community Service
• LB Demetrius Knight - Butkus Award
• C Vershon Lee - Rimington Award
• LS Hunter Rogers - Patrick Mannelly Award
• RB Raheim Sanders - Maxwell Award, Doak Walker Award, Comeback Player of the Year Award
• LB Debo Williams - Butkus Award, Bronko Nagurski Trophy

The Gamecocks have a few draft-worthy players to keep an eye on this season. Raheim Sanders headlines this list as he was on some draft boards last season before suffering a late knee injury and choosing to transfer in the offseason. Nick Emmanwori is another to watch out for this season as the junior safety is coming off of a 71 tackle, 2 interception performance last season.

There are a few Gamecocks on the defensive line who are in draft talks for next year. TJ Sanders had a spot on draft boards last season but returned to South Carolina this season. The redshirt junior defensive tackle is coming off of a season where he had 43 tackles and 4.5 sacks. The other names on the D-Line to watch this year are Tonka Hemingway, DeAndre Jules, and Alex Huntley. The front seven for South Carolina should be extremely solid this season as this stacked line pairs with a talented linebacker core. Two of these linebackers are draft worthy names for 2025, Debo Williams and Demetrius Knight Jr. These two are a familiar pair in the middle of the Gamecock Defense from last season when Williams had 113 tackles, and Knight had 96.