South Carolina Football: Xavier Legette brings home another award

Xavier Legette had a tremendous 2023 season for the South Carolina football team.

The Mullins, South Carolina native used his 5th year of eligibility to become one of the greatest wide receivers to ever play for the Gamecocks as he put up numbers that have only been bested by Alshon Jeffery in 2010. En route to consensus All-SEC honors and a few All-American selections, Legette grabbed 71 receptions for 1255 yards and 7 touchdowns.

This week, according to a release from the University of South Carolina, Xavier Legette's effort earned him the 2023 recipient of the Blanchard-Rogers Trophy.

The Blanchard-Rogers Trophy is named for two Heisman Trophy winners with ties to the state of South Carolina (George Rogers, won the Heisman Trophy in 1980 at USC; Felix "Doc" Blanchard, from McColl, SC, won the Heisman Trophy in 1945 at Army) and is given annually to the top player in the state in college football. The honor is sometimes known as the "South Carolina Heisman."

The Blanchard-Rogers Trophy has been awarded every season since 2013, but Legette is just the second South Carolina football star to be awarded the honor, following Kevin Harris in 2020. Mason Rudolph (Oklahoma State, 2017) and Jalin Hyatt (Tennessee, 2022) are the only winners not to play college ball in the Palmetto State as Grayson McCall (2021, Coastal Carolina) joins Clemson legends Tajh Boyd (2013), Vic Beasley (2014), Deshaun Watson (2015-2016), Travis Etienne (2018), and Trevor Lawrence (2019) as other South Carolina-based players to win the award.

Legette is poised to be a high draft pick in April's NFL Draft. He has been projected anywhere from the late 1st round to the 3rd round, and his combination of size and speed have NFL organizations excited about what he can become at the next level.