South Carolina football: Karon Prunty enters transfer portal

South Carolina football seemingly picked up a huge boost in a thin secondary over the offseason with the addition of sophomore cornerback Karon Prunty. Prunty earned freshman All-American honors last year with the Kansas Jayhawks, breaking up 10 passes and holding opposing receivers to a catch rate of less than 40%. The transfer appeared to be a lock to earn first-team reps alongside Cam Smith in the defensive backfield, but a surprise decision has since altered those plans.

On Thursday morning, it was announced by On3 Sports that Prunty had opted to enter the transfer portal before ever stepping foot on the field for the Gamecocks. His next destination is not yet known, but it may be worth mentioning that the defender picked South Carolina over SEC East rival Tennessee during the recruiting process.

Prunty figured to anchor one of the starting cornerback roles with South Carolina having five defensive backs leave the program following the conclusion of the 2020 season. In nine games last year, he didn’t yield a single touchdown in coverage, while finishing among the top defenders in the nation in shutting down his opposition.

The Gamecocks were hoping that he could help replace the losses of Israel Mukuamu and Jaycee Horn, both of whom were picked up in last year’s NFL Draft. Instead, it appears as though the secondary battles will continue throughout the Fall. With just three weeks remaining before the season opener, this is certainly not the news that head coach Shane Beamer wanted to hear.