Demetrius Knight on South Carolina after 2024: 'A team to reckon with for years and years to come'
South Carolina football has shown tremendous year-to-year improvement over the last two seasons.
In 2023, the Gamecocks failed to play in a bowl game for the first time in Shane Beamer‘s head coaching tenure at the program. The team quickly reversed course by earning nine victories (four more than it did the year before) and nearly reaching the College Football Playoff one season later.
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Contributions from experienced veterans like Demetrius Knight helped South Carolina achieve those marks. But many of those players will soon be heading to the professional ranks, as indicated by the 11 Gamecock football alumni participating in this year’s NFL Combine (and one more at the event’s Specialist Showcase).
Knight believes that, despite the Gamecocks losing much of their veteran presence, they will be among the sport’s top teams in 2025. He doubled down on that statement while talking to reporters at the NFL Combine on Wednesday.
“South Carolina is going to be a team to reckon with for years and years to come, as long as Beamer’s there doing his thing and laying the law down like he has been,” Knight said. “They’re going to be a great a team to watch this year. I can’t wait to see what they do.”
Replicating its success from 2024 will be no easy task for South Carolina. In 2025, the Gamecocks will face the same SEC opponents it did last year, but the location of each game will be flipped. That means the team will have road matchups against LSU, Ole Miss and Texas A&M, in addition to a contest at home against Alabama.
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Beamer has already made it clear to his players that building on last year’s accomplishments is one of South Carolina’s goals this upcoming season.
“We did some really good stuff in 2024, but by no means are we satisfied. Our whole thing is taking this thing even farther in 2025 than we did in 2024, making sure our guys understand the work that went into 2024,” Beamer said in an appearance on 107.5 The Game on Feb. 25. “It didn’t just happen. There was a lot of work and intentional moments to make that happen. That’s what we’ve got to be doing this year, as well. We’re hard at work on that.”
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LaNorris Sellers, the Gamecocks’ primary signal caller, could play a large role in the team’s future success. Sellers finished his redshirt freshman season with a 65.6% completion percentage (196-of-299 passing), 2,534 passing yards and 18 touchdowns. He added 674 rushing yards and seven more scores on the ground.
This has led to Sellers being listed among the sport’s top quarterbacks heading into 2025 by many outlets, including On3.
“Hopefully, LaNorris continues to work his magic that he would display every Saturday,” Knight said.
South Carolina will almost certainly see players other than Sellers have strong performances each week. But no matter who ends up being productive on the field, Knight said he has faith that the Gamecocks will have a strong season – in 2025 and beyond.
“South Carolina is going to be a team to watch, for sure,” Knight said.