South Carolina brought in 22 players from the NCAA Transfer Portal this past offseason, but it lost 26 scholarship players as well. Some of the former Gamecocks were highly-regarded who went to brand name schools, and some others elected to give up the sport, at least temporarily. There are some who went to lower levels and a couple of players we can't seem to track down.
A couple of weeks of preseason camp is in the books for every program across the country, so let's check in on former Gamecocks and see if there's anything particularly noteworthy happening.
Here's what we've found at this point.
RB Mario Anderson – Memphis: Anderson was named as a second-team preseason All-AAC team and also a Doak Walker Award watch list selection. He's the first-team running back for the Tigers. Sutton Smith, who had 457 yards from scrimmage last year, is also there to take some carries, too.
QB Tanner Bailey – Auburn: Bailey left South Carolina and enrolled at Auburn for the spring semester. He is not, however, playing football for the Tigers and is attending only as a student.
DB Kajuan Banks – USF: Banks is projected as the starting nickel for the Bulls, but has also practiced some at the safety position.
LB Stone Blanton – Mississippi State: Blanton seems locked in a battle for the starting job along with J.P. Purvis, who played the SAM linebacker position. The two are battling for the starting MIKE job.
WR O'Mega Blake – Charlotte: Blake enrolled at ECU for the spring semester but didn't fit in well with the program. He went back into the portal and ended up at Charlotte where he's playing under position coach Jason Barnes, a former Gamecocks wide receiver.
DL Terrell Dawkins – North Texas: Dawkins committed to North Texas near the end of July and enrolled in August. He enters the season as the second-team LEO, which is one of the end positions in the 3-3-5 defense for the Mean Green. He's listed at 6-foot-4 and 249 pounds.
OL Sidney Fugar – Baylor: Fugar, listed at 6-foot-5 and 341 pounds by Baylor, is now practicing on the interior. In a recent scrimmage, he worked as second-team left guard.
QB Colten Gauthier – Unsure: Gauthier committed to Gardner-Webb on Jan. 7 of this year but is not on the roster. He deleted his commitment announcement from his Twitter account. Have not found a landing spot for Gauthier.
WR Kelton Henderson – Unsure: Have not found a landing spot for Henderson.
DL Felix Hixon – Middle Tennessee: Hixson is a backup in the three-man front defense, which sees a returner at the nose and also a junior college player.
WR Kylic Horton – S.C. State: Nothing substantial to report at this time.
LB Grayson Howard – Florida: Howard is in a position battle for the starting MIKE position with redshirt senior Derek Wingo. Howard got the majority of the reps in the spring with Wingo limited due to injury. Head coach Billy Napier said at the end of July, "He had a great spring and he'll be a factor, a major factor for the Gators going forward."
K Mitch Jeter – Notre Dame: Jeter is the sure-fire starter at placekicker for the Fighting Irish. This was written in one of the 247Sports practice reports about Jeter recently: The staff had great confidence in Jeter when they landed him from the NCAA Transfer Portal, but he's further bolstered that belief this camp, Irish Illustrated has been told. He may also handle kickoff duties.
OL Grayson Mains – Temple: Mains, who is listed at 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, is running as the first-team center for the Owls. Here's an in-depth interview with Mains, which includes his thoughts on his time at South Carolina.
DL D'Andre Martin – Charlotte: Martin, who is now going by Dre, appears to be a depth piece.
DL Xzavier McLeod – Georgia: Reading through various Georgia updates, McLeod seems to be fighting for a spot in the rotation, either as a backup or third-team defensive tackle. There are about six or seven big bodies vying for reps, and McLeod is one of them.
OL JonDarius Morgan – UAB: Morgan is working on the interior for the Bulls and has a chance to start this season, most likely at one of the guard positions.
DB Keenan Nelson Jr. – Ohio State: There hasn't been anything written by our Ohio State website of substance about Nelson. BuckeyesWire.com projected Nelson as the backup strong safety entering preseason camp. He was termed as a "depth piece" by our 247Sports site in a safeties preview written in May.
OL Jaylen Nichols – Memphis: While Nichols is the likely starter at left tackle, he missed the spring, still recovering from a knee injury. He's in competition with Old Dominion transfer Chris Adams.
DB Isaiah Norris – North Carolina Central: Nothing substantial to report at this time.
WR Landon Samson – Unsure: Have not found a landing spot for Samson.
TE Kamron Sandlin – Unsure: Have not found a landing spot for Sandlin.
TE Zavier Short – Appalachian State: Short is listed as a wide receiver on the official App State football roster. He was not one of the eight receivers profiled by our App State site when analyzing the depth chart.
DL Drew Tuazama – UCLA: According to our UCLA website, Tuazama is a second-team EDGE in their mid-camp depth chart projections. The UCLA site wrote in a practice report on August 10: Tuazama had some good moments, and some not so good, but he absolutely looks the part. He might still be picking up the defense, as it looked like he didn't quite know what to do at times. He is listed at 260 pounds on the UCLA roster while he was 285 at South Carolina.
WR Antwane Wells Jr. – Ole Miss: Wells was supposed to be on track to be healthy for preseason camp, but hasn't practiced recently. On Thursday of this week, he was not practicing and was off to the side riding a stationary bike. He was participating in practice at the start of camp.
DL Donovan Westmoreland – Kennesaw State: Westmoreland, the highest-ranked recruit to ever play for KSU, is working at defensive end for the Owls.
