Nick Emmanwori ready for next step with Gamecocks
With his Gamecocks football squad right in the midst of spring practice, sophomore defender Nick Emmanwori has been pleased with the progression he has seen on multiple fronts.
“Spring practice has been great. The environment is great, the energy is great,” Emmanwori told Kendall Smith in a Garnet Trust interview presented by 360clean.
The South Carolina native’s debut season seemed to go according to plan, or even better: The Irmo product ended up garnering multiple Freshman All-American awards, plus he was named Freshman All-SEC by the league’s coaches.
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For someone who did not enroll until last summer and was not a starter in game one, it was impressive stuff.
Emmanwori entered the Georgia State contest for an injured RJ Roderick and then stayed in the lineup for the rest of the season.
“It was almost like a movie,” Emmanwori said. “You couldn’t ask for a better start. I had a good freshman season to build on.”
Emmanwori admitted that he didn’t have a “perfect” freshman season. As the 6-foot-4-220-pounder looks to take the next step, this spring has been a key step in his development as he gets more comfortable.
“I’ve been killing it. When I first came in, things were coming fast. I had to get used to college football,” he explained. “Now, I know the playbook, I know how things are working. Now it’s just me working on little things, the details, making sure everything’s perfect to refine my game.”
Aside from his personal development, Emmanwori praised how the entire Gamecocks squad – which includes a mix of familiar and new faces – has come together this spring.
“The chemistry’s been great. When people leave, Coach Beamer does a great job, and the other coaches do a great job, of filling those voids,” the safety said. “We’ll miss those guys that left, but the new guys are great. We just reloaded with great guys and great people.”
There have been plenty of returns indicating how competitive things have been this spring between Gamecocks players as they work toward preparing for a real opponent – UNC – in September.
“The competition between offense and defense is always like a heated rivalry. It’s been fun. The energy’s been high. We’ve been going back and forth,” said Emmanwori.
He has also enjoyed every step of the process so far, noting that even though his home is 15 minutes down the road from USC, he’d rather be on campus with his teammates, laughing and getting better on the field.
“Being around those guys, it’s fun. It’s a feeling like no other. We’ve built a brotherhood that will last forever. I’m ready for the season,” Emmanwori said. “I’m really excited for what’s to come.”
