South Carolina football's offense will have a number of new faces on the field in the receiver room for the 2024 season, hauling in five transfers with the potential for consistent productivity.
The Gamecocks saw many of its offensive playmakers move onto the professional ranks or leave the program through the transfer portal this offseason. Legette, who was the Gamecocks' leading receiver last year, was taken with the No. 32 overall pick in the 2024 NFL Draft by the Carolina Panthers. Fifth-year wide receiver Ahmarean Brown, who also had experience returning punts and kicks, signed as an undrafted free agent with the Cleveland Browns.
The team lost a pair of receivers to the transfer portal, as redshirt junior O'Mega Blake and redshirt senior Antwane Wells Jr. committed to play for UNC Charlotte and Ole Miss, respectively.
South Carolina will return just one wide receiver who recorded more than 150 receiving yards last season — sophomore Nyck Harbor, who totaled 195 yards on only 12 catches.
Because of this, the team added five new players to its receiving corps this offseason — sixth-year Dalevon Campbell (who transferred from Nevada), senior Gage Larvadain (Miami-Ohio), redshirt junior Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina), senior Ahmari Huggins-Bruce (Louisville) and redshirt freshman Vandrevius Jacobs (Florida State).
This will also force redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers to throw to a plethora of new faces during the team's first game against Old Dominion on Aug. 31. Head football coach Shane Beamer announced Tuesday that Sellers would be the starting quarterback for the Gamecocks during week one.
The Gamecocks had a productive passing attack during the 2023 campaign, finishing sixth in the SEC in passing yards. Former South Carolina quarterback Spencer Rattler, who is now a member of the New Orleans Saints in the NFL, threw for 3,186 yards and 19 touchdowns last year.
Rattler had a variety of pass-catching options during his final collegiate season, including Legette, whose 1,255 yards in 2023 was the second-highest single-season receiving yardage total in Gamecock football history.
South Carolina's passing attack generated much of the team's offense, accounting for 76.5% of its total yards from scrimmage last season. But the Gamecocks were forced to start fresh during the offseason, which has created an open competition for playing time ahead of the 2024 campaign, Beamer said.
"We've got more depth in athleticism and competition than last year," Beamer told reporters on Aug. 1. "If you ask me today ... 'Who are your top six receivers game one?,' it really truly is still to be determined."
Brown joins the Gamecocks as an established veteran in the wide receiver room, having been a consistent performer for the Chanticleers. He has recorded 700 receiving yards each of the past two seasons and scored 10 total touchdowns during that time frame.
Brown said South Carolina's wide receiver room has struck a balance between camaraderie and competition.
“Everybody in that room wants to play, and it's still a competition in that room,” Brown said. “I feel like everyone is coming along, we’re all competing and we’re all going to do work.”
Larvadain is coming off a season of playing Football Bowl Subdivision football at Miami-Ohio after spending his first two collegiate seasons at Southeastern Louisiana. In a contest against Massachusetts last season, Larvadain put up 273 yards on only eight catches.
Each of the team's receivers is eager to prove themselves and compete for a role on the team, Larvaidain said.
“We're all hungry,” Larvadain said. “It makes it easy to go out there and compete when you’ve got a group of guys who are just so eager to go out there and help each other get better.”
Campbell joins South Carolina with the most college football experience of any wide receiver, having spent the past five years at Illinois and Nevada. He said he is excited to join the group and continue learning from wide receivers coach Mike Furrey, who was hired on Feb. 29.
“He’s a hard coach, and he has expectations that he wants you to meet, and you’ve got to have an expectation for yourself that is higher than his, and he (will) push you to that,” Campbell said. “The way he talks, the way he (does) things, you want to run through that wall for him, and you want to be the best for him and for the team.”
Jacobs, who has the least experience as the youngest of the bunch, tallied three receptions for the Florida State team that went undefeated during the regular season and won an ACC Championship last year. Now a Gamecock, Jacobs said he has been impressed with what he was seen from Sellers during preseason practice.
“I feel like LaNorris can make any throw, I feel like he can make any read, so that’s how I feel about (former Florida State quarterback) Jordan Travis too,” Jacobs said. “It’s a pleasure, a privilege, playing with him, so ... he’s going to make me better.”
The new wide receivers and the rest of the team will be back in action when South Carolina kicks off the season against Old Dominion on Aug. 31 at Williams-Brice Stadium. The game will be at 4:15 p.m. on the SEC Network.