REACTION: Juice Wells' Return Gives Gamecocks A Go-To Target In 2024
We might be over a month away from Christmas, and trust me, I'm someone who doesn't like to overlook Thanksgiving, one of my favorite holidays of the year, but I think it's entirely fair to say that Shane Beamer and South Carolina's Football program got a very early Christmas present on Monday night. Just a little over 12 hours ago, preseason All-SEC wide receiver Antwane Wells Jr., who's been sidelined with a lower-body injury since week three, announced his intentions to not play against Clemson but also return for the 2024 season.
To say this is a massive deal for the Gamecocks, who, heading into the Summer, were likely expecting this to be Juice's last season in Columbia, would be an understatement. For one, Dowell Loggains will essentially be replacing one superstar wide receiver in Xavier Legette with another in Wells. While Antwane might not have quite the top-end athleticism his counterpart possesses, he's proven himself more than capable of taking over a game against top-notch competition.
For whoever Spencer Rattler's successor is, whether it be LaNorris Sellers or Luke Doty, he'll have a guy who he can trust in almost any situation to make a play for him, even if it means taking a risk. For the wide receiver room, this announcement means that South Carolina won't be as desperate as they attempt to figure out their pecking order in the post-Legette era. I've already discussed on here before how the Gamecocks' misses at the receiver position over the past few cycles were quickly creating a depth dilemma for that room. If you feel like I'm being a bit harsh, the numbers speak for themselves.
Carolina has only landed one true wide receiver that was/is rated a four-star or better coming out of high school since Shane Beamer's arrival in December of 2020, and that's 2024 commit Mazeo Bennett. Then you look at the roster behind Xavier from this season; that group's collective career stat line currently looks like this: 27 receptions, 403 receiving yards, and four touchdowns.
Juice Wells' return doesn't wipe away all of the potential question marks this group will have heading into the 2024 season. However, it's like Dowell Loggains said about Spencer Rattler's play early on in the 2023 season: he's like spaghetti sauce because he'll cover up multiple issues for his team.
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