South Carolina quarterback says Nyck Harbor reminiscent of former star Xavier Legette

When the 2025 season kicks off on Saturday, South Carolina wide receiver Nyck Harbor’s first full offseason with the Gamecocks will have ended.

Harbor enters his third year in Columbia, but before 2025, he had never participated in spring practice. He enrolled in the summer ahead of his freshman season and was an All-American sprinter for the track and field team last spring.

If you ask anyone within the Gamecock offense, they will acknowledge the huge strides Harbor has made throughout this offseason. However, backup quarterback Luke Doty chose a different way to complement the wideout.

When talking about Harbor’s work ethic throughout this offseason, Doty drew a direct comparison to Panthers wide receiver Xavier Legette.

“It’s starting to remind me more and more of Xavier Legette with the way that he practices,” Doty said. “Like, he never wants to come out. He’s running full speed to the ball every single time. And you know, it’s going to be really exciting to see him this weekend.”

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Legette was a senior during Harbor’s freshman year at South Carolina in 2023. During that season, Harbor sat on the sidelines and watched Legette grow from an unknown wide receiver to a first-round pick in the NFL Draft.

“That whole 2023 season, (I took) mental reps of how he practiced, how he worked in the film room, he worked off the field. I just took that to my own and elevated myself from that,” Harbor said. ” … The work ethic he put into that, I put into myself. So, ‘Hey, no matter how tired you are, no matter what’s going on, you have to play full speed and worry about the rest later.’ That’s his mentality, so that’s what I took from him.”

Harbor believes himself to be “light-years” beyond where he was this time a season ago.

“Just having that full spring, all of it. It’s been one of the biggest things for me.” Harbor said. “I’m playing faster, I know more, I’m seeing things easier. I’m starting to see things faster, just go make the plays faster, get out on my routes faster. The preparation I put into myself is just like a regular practice week for me. Even though it’s a game, I’m just seeing it that same way. That’s how I mentally prepare now.”

Doty is proud to see the work and effort that Harbor has put in, understanding that while Harbor knows he is good, he also believes he can keep getting better.

“He wasn’t comfortable with just getting a couple catches last year, getting a couple touchdowns. He wanted more,” Doty said. “And he pushed himself every single day in the offseason to get better, and I think it’s really starting to come to fruition with the way he practices.”

The wideout enters his junior season with 571 career receiving yards, including four touchdowns. As a junior, he is looking for that breakout season Legette had during his senior season. Legette entered 2023 with 423 career receiving yards. Four months later, he had posted a 71-catch, 1255-yard season with seven touchdowns.

Shane Beamer has seen Harbor having fun and learning the fundamentals more throughout the offseason.

“Of running routes, how to block, catching the ball, running after the catch. He still has a ways to go, but he’s so much farther along from last year at this time to now because he’s spent more time in football,” Beamer said.

Doty encourages Harbor daily and is constantly there to remind him of how far he’s grown in camp this offseason.

“I tell him every day, ‘You’re getting so much better, like you are so much better than this time last year.’ It’s night and day,” Doty said. “Don’t get me wrong, he was a monster last year too, but just to see how far he’s come and how hard he’s worked to get where he’s at now, I tell him every day, ‘You’re getting better. You’re continuing to get better. You’re going to have a great day today. Whatever it is, keep doing what you’re doing because it’s working.'”

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