Here’s when your tiniest Gamecocks can hear football players read children’s books

Here’s a play you won’t want to fumble.

The South Carolina Gamecocks return to the Richland County Public Library’s annual summer reading program Pigskin Poets.

The players will read stories, play games and sign autographs at 3 p.m. Friday, July 20, at the Drew Wellness Center.

Storyteller Darion McCloud, Gamecocks cheerleaders and Cocky will join the players as they emphasize the importance of summer reading.

Pigskin Poets frequently marks players’ first public appearance of the season — so it’s frequently the public’s first glimpse of the team’s incoming freshmen as college students.

The element of surprise is part of the draw.

“We do not know which players will definitely attend yet,” Tamara King, the library’s community relations director, said Tuesday. “Typically it is all the freshman and a handful of upperclassmen.”

Since they don’t confirm who is participating, library personnel and the players select books just before the event. But there are a couple of favorites.

“They almost always read ‘Yo! Yes?’ by Chris Raschka (and) ‘Chicka Chicka Boom Boom’ by Bill Martin Jr., illustrated by Lois Ehlert,” King said. “A third book is also selected the day of the event.”

Participating as a freshman in 2009, Stephon Gilmore, a USC standout who is now a cornerback for the New England Patriots, found the experience inspiring.

“It’s good for us to see how much these kids look up to us,” he told The State at the 2009 event. “And it just makes us want to play harder and win for them.”

GoGamecocks.com recently reported that several true freshmen are likely to play for the Gamecocks in 2018.

If you go

Pigskin Poets

WHEN: 3-4:30 p.m. Friday, July 20.

WHERE: Drew Wellness Center, 2101 Walker Solomon Way.

COST: Free.

INFO: www.richlandlibrary.com.