TAMPA, Fla. - Nyck Harbor showed up at SEC Media Days looking a little different, and not just because of the suit. He had swapped the drab dark travel outfit for a sharper jacket, brushed the shoulders, and pinned on the gold “N” on his right lapel.
His hair was tighter too, braided neatly. The one thing missing was his signature Coke-bottle glasses, though that was an accident.
“My mom broke my glasses, so no glasses today. We were in New York and she was going through my bookbag and she dropped the glasses and they just broke apart,” Harbor said “I was like, ‘Mom, I think that’s the first time I ever seen you break one of my pair of glasses,’ but we got it right. We’re going to get some new ones.”
The look may have changed, but the bigger story is how much Harbor has changed on the field. He came in as the high-upside freshman who also ran track, then spent time learning the position and getting his hands and eyes in the right spots as a sophomore. By last season, he had become South Carolina’s leading receiver in yards and touchdowns, finishing two catches shy of tying for the team lead in receptions.
That kind of jump naturally raises the bar. At 6-foot-5 and 239 pounds, Harbor has the kind of frame and speed that keeps NFL eyes trained in his direction. But he made it clear at SEC Media Days that the focus isn’t on the spotlight.
He’s thinking about what South Carolina needs from him as a senior.
“Everybody is looking to be the best of themselves. And when the whole receiving room is like that and everybody just goes out there and they just do remarkable things, they make the best plays,” he said. “So when somebody makes a play, OK, the next dude is gonna make a play because you don’t want somebody to get a step ahead.
“I think that’s the best thing about it, is when somebody makes a play, somebody else is gonna make a play. So we just keep making plays and stacking plays.”
That mindset has carried over into leadership, too. Coaches always want the players who can command a room to actually step into that role, and Harbor did that as soon as last season ended. He said he’s been helping younger players however he can, answering questions and finding the right person when he doesn’t have the answer himself.
“I’m just doing whatever I can. The young guys ask me questions, I’m answering to the best of my ability,” he said. “If I don’t got the answer, then I’m going to go find somebody that has the answer, but just showing the ways to work around.”
Harbor, LaNorris Sellers and Peyton Williams were all asked about South Carolina being off the radar this year, rather than merely outside the center of it like last season. None of them seemed bothered by that label. In their view, being overlooked can be an advantage.
Harbor said the Gamecocks have spent their time grinding without much national attention.
“We haven’t had the national media spotlight. Everybody’s been down on us, so we’ve really just been in the ground just working.
That’s the one thing that we have to do. We just work.
We just work,” Harbor said. “We’re not listening to outside noise because there is no outside noise.
That’s the best thing for us.
“It’s just been an amazing time to see us as underdogs, so I just can’t wait to go out there and play every game.”
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