New Gamecocks QB commit LaNorris Sellers lets his play do the talking
Florence (S.C.) South Florence On3 four-star quarterback LaNorris Sellers prefers to let his playing do the talking.
He’s not so much about the hype and the press conferences.
“To get straight to the point, I will be attending the University of South Carolina,” Sellers said late Friday morning as he officially flipped his commitment from Syracuse to the Gamecocks in one of the shortest, to-the-point announcements Gamecock Central has ever attended.
But ask anyone at South Florence, and they’ll tell you that’s who Sellers is as a person.
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While it was a difficult call to tell Syracuse he wouldn’t be coming, he just felt like South Carolina was the best place for him.
“Constant communication with the coaches, constant communication with the players on the team,” Sellers said. “And I just felt like it was what was best for me.”
Seller’s game did a lot of talking for him this season.
No player in the state of South Carolina saw a bigger jump in production than Sellers who was a Mr. Football finalist as a senior after playing in just four games due to injury as a junior.
Sellers passed for 2,948 yards (11.4 yards per attempt) and 45 touchdowns with just two interceptions. He also rushed for 1,338 yards and 22 scores, taking over in game after game as he led the Bruins to the first state title in school history.
South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer said on Wednesday, the first day of the early signing period, that the Gamecocks would like to sign a QB — clearly a nod to Sellers.
The fast-rising prospect emerged as Carolina’s top QB target for the class when they offered in late October, though some wondered if it would be too late due to Sellers’ long-standing commitment to Syracuse and then-offensive coordinator Robert Anae.
But the door was already cracked as Sellers had long coveted an offer from the home-state school and it flew open when Anae left the Orange for N.C. State.
In the meantime, Sellers hit it off with new South Carolina offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains.
“That was one of the biggest things with me, as soon as I met him as soon as he got the job, he was texting me, we got on Facetime, he was texting me really every day when I was at the Shrine Bowl,” Sellers said. “Really just the style of offense and his plans for the offense and the experience he has with all of the other quarterbacks.”
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While Gamecock Central was always aware that Sellers wanted a South Carolina offer, the buzz that he would sign with the Gamecocks really started to pick up in the last couple of weeks.
He gave Beamer the word earlier this week that he was staying home.
“So I called him, it was almost 11 p.m.,” Seller said. “We talked at like 3, I told him I had a call for him later on in the night, it ended up being around 10:00 and so he was going to yell but his kids were asleep so he was like yeah I’m so excited, I can’t yell or anything because my kids are asleep, but he’s glad I’m staying home.”
The Shrine Bowl week, when Sellers ultimately took home the offensive MVP award for the SC squad in the game, was also a major factor as it gave him an opportunity to spend time with Markee Anderson and Monteque Rhames, South Carolina commitments at the time who signed with the Gamecocks on Wednesday.
“It was good. I think that really helped me in the whole process just knowing I can be comfortable around people,” he said. “I’m around people I know already, so that played a part.”
“(Monteque) was following me everywhere I was at. As soon as I walked in the door, he was right there, him and Markee.”
Now they’ll be teammates.
Sellers is considered a three-star prospect in the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies, but that doesn’t do any justice to the level of player he is.
That average considers him the No. 607 overall prospect in the class as well as the No. 35 QB and No. 6 prospect in the state.
On3’s analysts, however, are significantly higher on the playmaker, with a ranking that much more aligns with the local sentiment of him as a player.
On3 ranks Sellers as a four-star prospect. He is considered the No. 156 overall prospect in the 2023 class, the No. 12 quarterback and the No. 3 overall prospect in the state of South Carolina.
Sellers, an early graduate and enrollee, will move in at South Carolina
“I’m really just going to take it as it goes, not get caught up in it too much and just focus on what I need to focus on,” Sellers said.
By all indications, that’s just who he is.
