Gamecocks Shrine Bowlers signed up for rebuild, react to Year 1
Dec. 14, 2016
SPARTANBURG
The future South Carolina Gamecocks football players at the Shrine Bowl took a chance.
They committed to a program with a new coach. They committed to a team that went 3-9 in 2015, led by a man whose head coaching experience was comprised of a problematic, four-year run at one of the sport's powerhouse.
They committed to a rebuild, to a comeback and to a certain kind of faith in what was to come.
Year 1 of the Will Muschamp era is mostly through. A team projected to finish last in the league rebounded to go 6-6 and return to a bowl. And the cadre of future Gamecocks who committed before the season has been watching.
"We're in a building program right now," Woodmont linebacker Davonne Bowen said. "Everybody's young, young positions. So it's going to be a good thing for me and the rest of the 2017 class to try to build up the program to where it can and where it should and where it's going to be."
After a few injuries and a state title game run, there are eight USC commits set to play Saturday in Spartanburg, six on the South Carolina team, two for North Carolina.
Laurens offensive lineman Summie Carlay said he was excited to get to the business of pushing the program back toward its former heights. Watching the 2016 edition, he focused on the work ethic, the sense the team might have had some disadvantages in size and speed but still got after it.
That's how they fought back from 2-4 to make a bowl, but that's only part of the rebuild.
"It's going to be a fun thing to do," Carlay said. "It's not going to be always easy, but anything worth having doesn't come easy. I think everything will really come together once we get all or our guys there on campus, all these recruits, plus the guys that are returning."
Fellow offensive lineman Eric Douglas, from Mallard Creek in North Carolina, said the Gamecocks season was about what he expected and talked about hitting goals the program hasn't seen (SEC titles and beyond).
These soon-to-be Gamecocks have practiced with and against each other this week and will face off in the game on Saturday. The week has also provided a chance for something else.
Players stay together as a team at a hotel. They hang out, get to meet each other and get a preview of who they'll be around when they take the next step in life in Columbia.
"It's pretty good just to see what they bring," Bowen said. "What they're going to be like when we're coming in. Just for me to be able to compete against O-linemen, Summie Carlay, tight end Will Register, it just goes to show me what kind of talent and what I'm going to be seeing."
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-recruiting/article120938633.html#storylink=cpy
THE STATE
Dec. 14, 2016
SPARTANBURG
The future South Carolina Gamecocks football players at the Shrine Bowl took a chance.
They committed to a program with a new coach. They committed to a team that went 3-9 in 2015, led by a man whose head coaching experience was comprised of a problematic, four-year run at one of the sport's powerhouse.
They committed to a rebuild, to a comeback and to a certain kind of faith in what was to come.
Year 1 of the Will Muschamp era is mostly through. A team projected to finish last in the league rebounded to go 6-6 and return to a bowl. And the cadre of future Gamecocks who committed before the season has been watching.
"We're in a building program right now," Woodmont linebacker Davonne Bowen said. "Everybody's young, young positions. So it's going to be a good thing for me and the rest of the 2017 class to try to build up the program to where it can and where it should and where it's going to be."
After a few injuries and a state title game run, there are eight USC commits set to play Saturday in Spartanburg, six on the South Carolina team, two for North Carolina.
Laurens offensive lineman Summie Carlay said he was excited to get to the business of pushing the program back toward its former heights. Watching the 2016 edition, he focused on the work ethic, the sense the team might have had some disadvantages in size and speed but still got after it.
That's how they fought back from 2-4 to make a bowl, but that's only part of the rebuild.
"It's going to be a fun thing to do," Carlay said. "It's not going to be always easy, but anything worth having doesn't come easy. I think everything will really come together once we get all or our guys there on campus, all these recruits, plus the guys that are returning."
Fellow offensive lineman Eric Douglas, from Mallard Creek in North Carolina, said the Gamecocks season was about what he expected and talked about hitting goals the program hasn't seen (SEC titles and beyond).
These soon-to-be Gamecocks have practiced with and against each other this week and will face off in the game on Saturday. The week has also provided a chance for something else.
Players stay together as a team at a hotel. They hang out, get to meet each other and get a preview of who they'll be around when they take the next step in life in Columbia.
"It's pretty good just to see what they bring," Bowen said. "What they're going to be like when we're coming in. Just for me to be able to compete against O-linemen, Summie Carlay, tight end Will Register, it just goes to show me what kind of talent and what I'm going to be seeing."
Read more here: http://www.thestate.com/sports/college/university-of-south-carolina/usc-recruiting/article120938633.html#storylink=cpy
THE STATE