South Carolina Football: Three Gamecocks in 247’s individual transfer portal rankings
By Kevin Miller
The South Carolina football team is welcoming 9 transfers in the 2023 transfer class. Trey Knox, Joshua Simon, Jaron Willis, Eddie Lewis, Jatius Geer, Nick Gargiulo, Nick Elksnis, Sidney Fugar, and Mario Anderson have transferred into the program. The Gamecocks are also adding preferred walk-on transfers Jaxon Hughes and Ni Mansell.
On Wednesday, 247Sports released their top 247 transfer portal players for the 2023 season. Three Gamecock newcomers were included in the rankings. Trey Knox (32nd), Joshua Simon (91st), and Jaron Willis (189th) were ranked by the national recruiting outlet.
Trey Knox is a tight end who transferred from Arkansas. The 6’5″, 250-pound weapon first arrived in Fayetteville as a big receiver who was recruited by current South Carolina football wide receivers coach Justin Stepp (had the same role at Arkansas). After moving to tight end, he was coached by current Gamecock offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains (coached tight ends at Arkansas).
Knox is expected to be the top tight end option for the Gamecocks in 2023. His familiarity with Loggains will be helpful to the rest of the offense who will be playing for “D-Lo” for the first time in 2023. Knox possesses enough size and athletic ability to function well as a receiver and a blocker from the tight end spot.
Joshua Simon is another tight end transfer who came in from Western Kentucky. Originally from South Carolina, Simon is an athletic receiving tight end who was a major target for the Hilltoppers during his four seasons at WKU.
Simon will have up to two years of eligibility remaining due to a redshirt in 2021 and the “Covid redshirt” of 2020. He is expected to play a real role in the Carolina passing game in the fall. He likely will not play much with his hand in the dirt as a blocking tight end, but he will get snaps and could play a big role if things go well.
Jaron Willis was a 4-star prospect out of high school before enrolling at Ole Miss. He played safety, outside linebacker, and EDGE in high school. Before transferring from Ole Miss, it seemed as if the Rebels wanted to grow Willis into an EDGE player, but now in Columbia, he is expected to play linebacker first.
Willis is extremely athletic but likely won’t play much in 2023 unless he takes a bigger-than-expected leap forward. He has tons of potential and has the chance to be a very good player for the South Carolina football program, but he still needs some development before being ready to play in the SEC.
Several of the other transfers are expected to play significant roles in 2023. Nick Gargiulo is projected to start at either guard or center, Jatius Geer might start at defensive end, Nick Elksnis will be used as blocking tight end, Mario Anderson could be part of the running back rotation, and Eddie Lewis will get snaps at wide receiver and will be used as a special teams weapon.