Brian Rowe making strong impression on his teammates at South Carolina

There’s been a lot of buzz about South Carolina’s wide receiver room and the potential it has to be significantly better this season.

The Gamecocks will return two of their top three leading pass catchers from 2024 in Nyck Harbor and Mazeo Bennett. Jared Brown and Vandrevius Jacobs, who both transferred to South Carolina last year, are back for another season as well. Then there are the much-talked-about freshmen.

In total, there are six freshman receivers on the team this year, all recruited by receivers coach Mike Furrey. Each of them has built up their own hype with their play on the field, but the one who’s seemingly been sticking out the most is Brian Rowe Jr.

READ HERE: ‘Nothing’s held them back’: South Carolina’s freshman receivers setting high bar for 2025

Rowe, a 6-foot, 170-pounder from Concord, North Carolina, graduated early from Jay M. Robinson High School in December and enrolled early at South Carolina. From there, it wasn’t long before he made an impact.

In the Gamecocks’ spring game, he had a breakout performance as he caught five passes for a team-high 45 yards. For the defensive backs who’ve had to face him, he can present some challenges.

“He’s a smooth guy. Routes are very smooth,” Vicari Swain said. “He’s kind of hard to guard since he’s a little bit smaller. But in space, he’s unstoppable.”

It hasn’t all been perfect for Rowe, though. In the team’s second scrimmage of fall camp, he got turned around a pass from Air Noland, which Gerald Kilgore managed to intercept with an impressive leaping grab.

Kilgore, who felt he had a great fall camp, had nothing but good things to say about Rowe from what he saw in practice.

“B Rowe is crazy athletic. Any ball that’s in the air, anything that needs to be going to get, you may not think that you’re gonna get, he’s definitely gonna grab that,” Kilgore said. “It’s almost like a lot of people look at his size, and it’s like, okay, he might not be much or this and that, but he plays aggressively for his size. So surprisingly, he can go in there and block — he can.”

Get GamecockCentral for $1 your first week. As a bonus, your membership includes a complimentary year of The Athletic.

Kilgore also described him as a receiver who’s not scared. Much like the entire freshman group of receivers, there’s a lot of confidence in his game.

“He’s not scared to run across the middle and make a tough catch or anything like that,” Kilgore said. “So he’s definitely added that to that receiver room for sure.”

In three seasons at Jay M. Robinson, Rowe logged 120 catches for 2,332 yards and 31 touchdowns. As a senior in 2024, he caught 46 passes for 935 yards with 11 touchdowns.

With the season opener a week away, Rowe could have a chance to earn snaps right away, mixed in with the veteran receivers. If that proves to be true, his quarterback, LaNorris Sellers, looks forward to throwing to him often this year.

“He can make people miss. He’s got good burst,” Sellers said. “It’s kind of like if you were a step behind him, he can just hit another gear and run.”

Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!