South Carolina Football: Talented Gamecock defensive back set to transfer

South Carolina football fans are weary of hearing about the transfer portal. A substantial exodus from the Gamecock roster is underway as 12 players (so far) either have announced their intentions to enter the transfer portal or have been reported as having plans of transferring.

The most recent of these names is defensive back KaJuan Banks.

On Sunday evening, Banks announced that he would be entering his name into the transfer portal when the portal opens officially this week. He was ranked as high as a 4-star prospect by ESPN coming out of high school in the 2022 recruiting class.

A talented defensive back, Banks has played sparingly during his two years in Columbia as veteran players were ahead of him on the depth chart. When he got on the field, however, he showed some flashes of brilliance, including a nice effort off the bench against North Carolina in the first game of the 2023 season. He seemed to show some disgruntledness this season due to his lack of playing time.

Banks played corner, safety, and nickel during his time in Columbia, but most of his defensive snaps came in the slot as a nickel. He also was a regular contributor on the Gamecock special teams units, sometimes having to alternate between two different jersey numbers so that he could share the field on kick coverage teams with another player with the same number.

Banks joins Zavier Short, O’Mega Blake, D’Andre Martin, Kylic Horton, Felix Hixon, Landon Samson, Mitch Jeter, Juice Wells, Colten Gauthier, Tanner Bailey, and Donovan Westmoreland as Gamecocks who are either already in the transfer portal or plan to be in the transfer portal soon.

With the transfer portal officially opening on Monday, more and more names will come forward from programs all across the country. The Gamecocks are already recruiting some of those players (graduate students) who were able to enter the portal early. Once the underclassmen join them in the portal, there will be even more scholarship offers on the table.

South Carolina football fans can expect their team to be open to taking players from almost any position on the field, but wide receiver, offensive line, and defensive line appear to be some of the positions they attack hardest in the portal.