South Carolina football: Kevin Harris named top 40 player

South Carolina football has one of the nation’s top 40 players.

South Carolina suffered through a disappointing 2020 season, winning just two games and ending the year on a six-game skid. While the results were underwhelming, there were a few Gamecock contributors that made significant impacts on the team’s success.

One of those players was Jaycee Horn, the first defensive player selected in the latest draft. Another was Ernest Jones, the team’s leading tackler of the last two seasons. Shi Smith had a career year at wide receiver, leading the squad in receptions and yardage.

All three of those players are off to the NFL.

There’s one major offensive piece coming back, though, and that’s running back Kevin Harris. Harris is the SEC’s leading returning rusher, running for 1,138 yards and 15 scores a season ago. He had a handful of 100-yard performances, and a couple in which he eclipsed the 200-yard mark. When all was said and done, he’d outrushed all conference tailbacks, including first-round pick Najee Harris to take home the regular season rushing crown.

Now, he returns for his junior year, and a few media outlets are beginning to recognize the back as one of the country’s top performers.

Sporting News is one of these sites, and they’ve recently released their top 40 players in college football ahead of the 2021 season. Harris made the cut at No. 35.

The accolades have been rolling in for the South Carolina rusher, who’s being considered for all-conference teams and postseason awards. Harris is looking to become the first Gamecock to post back-to-back 1,000-yard seasons since George Rogers achieved the feat in his Heisman winning 1980 campaign.

Harris figures to be the focal point in South Carolina’s new look offensive scheme. He, MarShawn Lloyd, and ZaQuandre White will share the load in the Gamecocks’ rushing attack, and should form one of the more productive trios in the conference.

Harris and the Gamecocks kick off the season in less than two months with a September 4th matchup versus Eastern Illinois under the lights of Williams-Brice Stadium. He’ll hope to see similar results in his third stint in the South Carolina backfield.