The identity of the player featured in new Williams-Brice banner

Williams-Brice Stadium has a new-look banner in place for the 2016 season.

South Carolina revealed the look of the banner earlier this week and had it in place at the stadium by Thursday afternoon. The signage faces Bluff Road and is under the Gamecocks’ Block C logo on the tallest concrete tower of the west stands.

The banner features a USC football player wearing No. 1 with a reflective shield on his helmet but not showing a face. The player is standing in front of the state flag’s palmetto tree and crescent.

It’s not wide receiver Deebo Samuel in the photo used for the banner, though he wears No. 1 on the field. It’s also not linebacker Bryson Allen-Williams, who posed with a No. 16 jersey for the back of this year’s media guide.

The player modeling the No. 1 jersey in the new stadium banner is senior wide receiver Matrick Belton, who starred locally at Keenan High. Belton wears No. 15 for the Gamecocks.

A 35-by-80-foot banner of former coach Steve Spurrier was removed in December. That banner was originally raised five days before USC’s 2014 season-opener.

The Block C and Gamecock sign damaged by a storm last month is expected to be fixed by the middle of next week. South Carolina’s first home game is Sept. 17 against East Carolina.

This story was originally published September 8, 2016 at 2:04 PM with the headline "The identity of the player featured in new Williams-Brice banner."