COLUMBIA - South Carolina went through 2025 with the same question hanging over its passing game that followed it into the year: who was going to become the breakout receiver?
The answer, at least statistically, never came into focus.
Vandrevius “Big Play Dre” Jacobs finished with a team-high 32 catches, Nyck Harbor led the Gamecocks in receiving yards and touchdown catches, and Jayden “Pup” Sellers made his biggest push late after appearing in the final seven games. Sellers finished with 22 receptions for 337 yards and a score.
Beyond that, the numbers stayed scattered. Tight end Brady Hunt was the only other player to reach 20 catches.
Brian Rowe and running back Rahsul Faison each had 19. Jacobs and Rowe later headed elsewhere through the transfer portal, and Faison was a senior.
That left South Carolina in a familiar spot, only this time the room looks mostly intact. The Gamecocks return much of the same group, along with six newcomers, including Furrey’s son, Stone Furrey, and D.J. Black, who spent a year at USC before playing for the elder Furrey at Limestone and then moving on to UCF when Limestone closed.
Offensive coordinator Kendal Briles said he liked what he saw this spring from the position group.
“The receivers, I’ve been pleased with,” USC offensive coordinator Kendal Briles said. “We had a lot of guys that have played some ball that had really good springs.”
Harbor is the obvious headliner heading into his senior season, and Briles made it clear he sees the upside.
“He’s a guy you want on a team that you’d like to be able to use. We’ll be able to do some things with him,” Briles said. “I think he’s having a lot of fun, really confident right now.”
Briles also pointed to Sellers for his ability to make difficult catches in traffic. Black, he said, put together “a big spring,” while Mazeo Bennett was another player who stood out after getting a little lost in the mix last season.
The group also includes NiTareon Tuggle, known as Nitro, who started as a true freshman at Georgia before returning home as a sophomore. The Elkhart, Ind., native later caught 500 yards worth of passes and scored four touchdowns at Purdue, enough to put him back on the SEC recruiting radar.
And then there’s Sequel Patterson, who arrived as maybe the best athlete Indian Land High has ever produced. Patterson missed spring ball because he chose to finish his senior basketball and track seasons first.
“He’s definitely behind, you know, from not being able to go through spring ball, but can’t help that when he’s got an opportunity to go to (the state track and field championships),” Briles said. “So he’s working hard.
“The thing that helps him is that you’re able to do all this stuff in the summer now with the players. And so you’re going through installations and they’re player-run, player-led workouts and that kind of stuff. So he’s able to process information.”
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Brady Hunt looks positioned to lead the group, with Mo Brown and Mike Tyler in the mix behind him as South Carolina searches for the right secondary option. Freshman Caden Ramsey and senior Max Drag also add depth to a room that could become more important than it has been in recent seasons, and the way that rotation settles in may end up saying plenty about how quickly Briles can put his imprint on the offense. [Read more 🡒]
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For South Carolina, the unranked-but-not-ignored status is its own kind of commentary. It suggests the Gamecocks are still on the radar, but not yet in the group the coaches are ready to trust, and it leaves plenty of room for the kind of September proving ground that can change a seasons tone quickly. For a team trying to climb back into the national conversation, the opening expectations are clear enough: there is work to do before anyone starts treating this as more than a team with a pulse. [Read more 🡒]