Shane Beamer pledges South Carolina wide receiver room will 'look a lot different' in 2025

Shane Beamer spoke highly of the South Carolina wide receiving corps during a recent interview with ESPN’s Greg McElroy. The Gamecocks headman is searching for a WR1 for quarterback LaNorris Sellers, and believes he has no shortage of talent to choose from.

In 2024, South Carolina’s top wide receiver was tight end Josh Simon. No longer with the program after turning pro, Beamer has kept a close eye on his receiving group this offseason. He’s been impressed with what he’s seen tot his point.

“Those guys are a year older,” Beamer told McElroy. “You know, Nyck Harbor was running track and didn’t go through spring practice last year. Vandrevius Jacobs, he didn’t transfer here from Florida State until after spring practice, so he didn’t go through the spring. Dalevon Campbell was one of our receivers. He didn’t go through spring practice with us because he transferred in the summertime. So all of the receivers were here for spring practice, which is great, except for one, Donovan Murph, a young man that we signed from right here in Columbia.

“We had five freshman receivers. They graduated high school early and went through spring practice. All of them were highly recruited and highly touted, and rightfully so. They’ve made progress and will make us better. And then their arrivals has really made Nyck Harbor and Jared Brown and Mazeo [Bennett Jr.] and our other receivers really have to elevate their games with the arrival of these freshmen receivers.”

Those incoming freshman group, excluding Murph, is made up of Malik Clark, Brian Rowe, Jordon Gidron, Lex Cyrus and Jayden Sellers. It’s clear Beamer has high hopes for this true freshman class.

However, Beamer isn’t trying to put pressure on his young wideouts by speaking so highly of them after the spring slate. But he’s also noticed increased length and athleticism in his room — something he recruited by design.

“They’re a talented group of guys, and overall, were deeper at wide receiver,” Beamer continued. “No question about it. There’s a lot of competition, because you’re exactly right, really. … Nyck Harbor and these other guys, they’ve really improved their ability to get open, but even more so, their run after the catch ability, as well where they can catch a pass, they can break a tackle and they can help us create even more explosive plays.”

The expectation is that each of these receivers will have the opportunity to be a part of what many believe will be a breakout season for quarterback LaNorris Sellers. Whether Harbor becomes to go-to wideout for him in 2025 remains to be seen, but Beamer appears to be impressed with what he’s seen from the group across the board heading into the summer.