Whatever Shane Beamer has been selling inside his program, many of his veteran players are buying. Enthused by their unexpected 7-6 season, including wins over Florida, Auburn and North Carolina, several key players who could have changed addresses have announced plans to return to the Gamecocks.
The latest came Friday night in the form of offensive tackle Dylan Wonnum. “The comeback is always stronger than the setback. Let’s get it!!” Wonnum wrote on his tweet announcing his return.
Wonnum was a heavily recruited prospect out of Atlanta who followed his brother defensive end DJ Wonnum to USC. He has been a contributor since his freshman season of 2018. He became a full-time starter in 2019 and has played both tackle positions the last three seasons. A back injury forced him to miss the final seven games of this season.
Wonnum’s announcement means at this point all of the contributing offensive linemen from this season plan to return for the 2022 season.
Has Jazston Turnetine announced he’s coming back? I hadn’t seen anything about him yet.
Then I think we’re just waiting for 3 DT’s and 4 WR’s to declare their super senior plans. I’m hoping that 3 of those 7, plus Turnetine come back.
We’re currently 7 scholarships over, if my count is right (assuming Dequandre Smith gray shirts). Wonder if all the super seniors will have announced by Monday, since that’s when the spring semester starts. There will have to be some more underclassmen that transfer out too, especially considering we’re still looking to add more new guys.
No word from him yet.