South Carolina Football: National voices hyping up LaNorris Sellers

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer named redshirt freshman LaNorris Sellers as the Gamecocks' starter heading out of spring practice. The athletic Sellers played sparingly in 2023 as Spencer Rattler's backup, getting most of his snaps in garbage duty and a handful of short-yardage run situations.

However, everyone in Gamecock nation understands that Sellers' potential is nearly unlimited as he has a special combination of size, athleticism, arm strength, and intelligence. The 6'3", 240-pound Sellers played in just four games last fall, so the talented Palmetto State native maintained four years of eligibility, and heading into his second year on campus, the rest of the country seems to be buying into the LaNorris Sellers hype.

Last week, On3's Andy Staples and Cody Bellaire gave their offseason "floor/ceiling splits" for the SEC (they concluded that USC's floor is 4-8, and their ceiling is 8-4 for the upcoming season), and in their discussion on South Carolina football, the analysts had some glowing things to say about LaNorris Sellers.

Bellaire argued that Sellers is a "darkhorse Heisman" contender and "built to carry the load" for the Gamecocks and that he will put up "gaudy" statistics this season.

Then, this week, Crain and Company's Jake Crain listed his top-5 new starters heading into the 2024 season, and LaNorris Sellers made the list. In a group with hyped up names like Garrett Nussmeier (LSU Tigers), Nico Iamaleava (Tennessee Volunteers), and Dylan Raiola (Nebraska Cornhuskers), Sellers slotted in at #5 on Crain's list of the best new starters in college football for next season.

The bespectacled #16 has higher expectations than most redshirt freshmen, but if things go well for him this fall, LaNorris Sellers is talented enough to have a huge year for the garnet and black and lead the Gamecocks to a better year than many "experts" think.