Courtesy Photo

Courtesy Photo

COLUMBIA, S.C. — There will be a new man under center for the South Carolina Gamecocks’ fans this fall and his name is LaNorris Sellers. The redshirt freshman was named the starter on last week by head coach Shane Beamer.

As a senior at South Florence High School, Sellers threw for 2,948 yards with 45 passing touchdowns and only two interceptions. The dual threat also ran for 1,338 yards and 17 rushing touchdowns as a senior while leading his team to a 4A state championship. He was named the Florence Morning News Player of the Year and was a finalists for Mr.Football for the state of South Carolina.

The No.4 prospect in the state, 16th ranked quarterback in the country, and no.246 overall prospect 247 Sports will have some very lofty expectations. The Gamecocks finished with a disappointing 5-7 record last season and will have a revamped offense with the departure of starting quarterback Spencer Rattler and star wide receiver Xavier Legette. Rattler played in 2022 but took a step back in 2023, even though the team overall performed below expectations.

Hype surrounding Sellers is not only from Gamecocks nation, but the entire college football world. He seems to be handling expectations pretty well going into week one, which will be at home against Old Dominion on Saturday, August 31 in front of a sold out crowd.

“You dream about things like this from a kid to now. It’s finally come true,” the redshirt freshman said. “So now, I’ve got to just go out there and play.”

He played in spring and continued to play well during fall football camp to win the starting job. Since it was announced that Sellers would be the starter, he have received a lot of support through text messages from family, friends and former coaches/teammates.

“I talked to Spence[Spencer Rattler] the day they named me the starter. I talked to him after his two-minute drive, then I talked to him after his throw he had on Sunday,” Sellers said. “I think it’s just good, having him in the room, I could just look up to him as an older, experienced guy. Just his confidence, his ability to run the huddle, run the plays and stuff.”

Not only has the support come from outsiders, but even quarterbacks on the roster who competed with Sellers for the starting job gave him very high praise.

“He comes in every single day and he goes to work. He’s always extremely prepared, whether that be for a walk through, a meeting, or going out to practice, he’s always very well prepared. He knows his calls, he knows what he’s looking at, and he knows how to execute the offense and run it at a high level,” Luke Doty, current backup quarterback, said.

It seems like the sky is the limit for Sellers and hopefully he can manage expectations by keeping his cool demeanor.