To LaNorris Sellers, the idea of entering the transfer portal wasn’t one worth overthinking.
The fast-rising quarterback is now considered one of the top prospects for next year’s NFL Draft, and with that national profile came attention from rival teams. Sellers’ father told The Athletic last month that the family heard offers as high as a two-year, $8 million deal to transfer to another school.
But Sellers, a native of Florence, S.C., didn’t budge.
“Everything I needed was in South Carolina,” Sellers said at Southeastern Conference media days Monday. “Like I grew up there. My family’s there. Anything I needed was an hour and five up the road for me. School pretty much takes care of rent and all that. So it’s not like you really need too much. You know what I’m saying? … There’s no point in me starting over.”
Head coach Shane Beamer added that Sellers is doing a summer internship in Columbia for his sport and entertainment management major. Sellers received high praise from Beamer, who said the quarterback “has not changed” since his ascent on the field.
“His life, his world has changed from last year at this time to right now because of what he did last season,” Beamer said. “But he’s got a great family around him. He came back in January knowing the things he needed to work on to get better at. He’s done a great job of working hard and improving, all while staying grounded and staying the same person.
“I think we’re going to be better around LaNorris as well on the offense, more depth and competition at pretty much every position I feel like. That’s going to help him. He doesn’t have to be Superman for us. Just continue to be the person he is, the leader that he is, and the player that he is, and watch him continue to take the next step.”
In his sophomore season — his first as a starter — Sellers completed 65.6 percent of his passes for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions. He added 674 yards and seven scores on the ground.
Most notably, Sellers helped the Gamecocks upset intrastate rival Clemson 17-14 on Nov. 30. He threw for 164 yards and rushed for 166 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winning score on a third-and-16 play with 1:08 to go. The Gamecocks went 9-3 in the regular season before a Citrus Bowl loss to Illinois.
Beamer promoted Mike Shula to offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach, noting Monday that Shula has “literally been in the shoes that LaNorris is in as he was a starting quarterback in this conference … He’s already made us better as an offense on and off the field.”
Sellers will have some family even closer than Florence this year, as his younger brother, wide receiver Jayden Sellers, is a freshman on the 2025 team.
“Super excited to play with him,” LaNorris Sellers said. “Last time we played together with him was my senior (year of high school), which was year three years ago.
“I was always quarterback. He played pretty much everywhere. And in rec league he played running back, receiver, DB. He played that up until last year, senior year. I think he’s fully receiver now. But that’s all we used to do, throw a deep field run and he’d catch it.”
–Field Level Media
