South Carolina Football: Gamecock transfer portal signee is already leaving the program

The transfer portal is hard to keep up with for most people. Given the recent allowance for two-time transfers to play immediately, things have gotten even more difficult to follow. Plus, there's nothing officially binding about a transfer portal player's commitment until they enroll in school. The strange rules (and lack thereof) have become a topic of conversation for the South Carolina football program.

On Thursday, Gamecock transfer portal signee Brady Hunt left the Gamecocks before he ever got on campus.

According to a report from GamecockCentral's Chris Clark, Brady Hunt is no longer coming to the University of South Carolina and will be playing his college football elsewhere in 2024. No school has been announced for Hunt, but his former position coach at Ball State, Patrick Dougherty, is now coaching at Texas A&M.

Hunt, a tight end from Ball State, was a Freshman All-American in 2022, missed all of the 2023 season with an injury but was expected to be a major factor in the USC tight end room alongside Josh Simon, incoming freshman Michael Smith, junior Nick Elksnis, sophomore Connor Cox, and redshirt freshman Reid Mikeska.

With Hunt out of the picture, Gamecock fans can expect to see a young player step up into a prominent role alongside presumed starter Josh Simon. Simon, who is a solid blocker and a good receiver, could use a big blocking tight end to play alongside him.

That would lead one to believe Elksnis and Cox could have a leg up at earning the spot. However, Smith and Mikeska are much higher-upside players as receivers and are not afraid of blocking. With the Gamecocks' unproven wide receiver room, they could utilize a lot of 12-personnel with two tight ends on the field, opening up even more opportunities for these young tight ends to play.

Two other transfer portal commitments wound up flipping to other programs. Wide receiver Jayden McGowan and quarterback AJ Swann, both transferring from Vanderbilt, committed to the Gamecocks (Swann silently), but they will play at Boston College and LSU, respectively. Unlike Hunt, though, neither McGowan nor Swann were announced as signees with the South Carolina football team.