Jalon Kilgore more prepared, adapting to speed of the game
South Carolina is no stranger to starting young or inexperienced players in the secondary.
In Shane Beamer’s first year, Darius Rush was a first-time starter at cornerback. In 2022, Nick Emmanwori and DQ Smith each burst onto the scene with fantastic freshmen seasons.
And in year three under Beamer and position coach Torrian Gray, the Gamecocks could have a few more young players back. And Jalon Kilgore could be one of them.
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“I feel like it’s been pretty good. I’ve been playing it for a minute. And I feel like coach Gray is doing a great job developing me,” he told GamecockCentral.
“We’re doing Zooms, having a lot of meetings and he’s showing me different techniques I can use to help me play. I feel like I’m very ready for the position.”
Kilgore was a big get for South Carolina, which went into Georgia to pluck the blue-chip recruit over the likes of Clemson, Oklahoma, Michigan and Tennessee Tech.
He enrolled at South Carolina as a four-star prospect and the No. 278 player in the class in the On3 Industry Rankings. On3 was higher on Kilgore than most services. It slotted him at No. 168 in the class and a top 20 safety.
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Kilgore enrolled in January for South Carolina spring practice where he got a chance to see how quickly the game moves.
“It was a little rough the first part of practice,” he said, laughing. “But I’m still learning new positions, learning how to use my body in different ways. In the end, I feel like I had a pretty successful spring.”
Going into preseason camp now, though, Kilgore thinks he’s better prepared and ready to make an impact in the secondary behind guys like Emmanwori, Smith and David Spaulding.
“I would say the speed of the game, learning the plays faster and having to put that into the game. I feel like now it’ll slow down going to the fall,” Kilgore said. “I’ve been on the playing field. I’ve seen how it looks. I feel like it’ll be easier.”
He’s gotten bigger and certainly looks the part of an SEC defensive back. Kilgore is up almost 10 pounds this camp from his listed weight on his recruiting profile.
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“I would say speed and size, obviously,” he said on what it takes to be a good safety. “Then having the mental capacity to know what everyone is doing. I feel like the safety has to know what everyone has to do so they can move around.”
He’ll try and make an impact under the tutelage of Gray, who has shown the ability to get freshmen ready and ready early.
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“I feel like he’s very passionate about what he does. He loves the game and loves it bad,” Kilgore said. “I feel like the way he teaches and coaches it, it’s not something he’s doing cause he’s getting paid for it. He genuinely loves seeing kids do better and building the best secondary in college football.”
