South Carolina Natives Discuss Playing For The Gamecocks
The exuberant pride that South Carolina fans take in their athletic programs makes most other schools pale in comparison. Those same fans take even greater pride in seeing South Carolina natives stay in-state and play for their Gamecocks. Shane Beamer and his staff have 48 Palmetto State natives on their roster heading into this Fall, including multiple newcomers from the high school ranks and the transfer portal.
I caught up with some of these newcomers to see how excited they were or how proud they were of repping their home state's flagship university in 2023. Here are their responses:
"It's very important to me, anything from your roots, I look at it as a positive thing [cause] you influence the youth."
Markee Anderson on if he has a sense of pride:
"Oh yeah, most definitely. I look at it as I come in as one of South Carolina's top recruits and I got a lot of pride in that, and I hope I can live up to the expectations, and I'm just looking forward to the season."
Joshua Simon
"It's a blessing, it's humbling. I still kinda think about it on a daily basis cause when I came out of high school, I was recruited by South Carolina and Clemson, but I was never offered. So you kinda give yourself those self-doubts like 'Am I good enough to play?', 'Could I have played on that level?' When I came, and I got adjusted, I was like 'Yeah, I could do it.''
Jatius Geer
"I don't think words can describe how excited I am. It's definitely a surreal feeling, cause South Carolina has always been my dream school, and the area that I'm from, a lot of people like Clemson way more, but I've always been a South Carolina guy. So for me, it's just a very surreal feeling."
Xzavier McLeod
"I have a lot of pride. Obviously I made the smart decision to stay at home. I'm surrounded by a great group of guys that I know that with the guys coach Beamer's bringing in, [I] feel like we're gonna do pretty good this season. I'm excited for the season."
While it sounds cliché, it can only help a team when a good chunk of your most notable players take an extra sense of pride in wearing the uniform of the program they represent. It could be another hidden quality that boosts the Gamecocks this season.
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