What Will Muschamp likes about his thunder-and-lightning duo of running back recruits

Will Muschamp’s South Carolina Gamecocks added a pair of tailbacks in the 2018 recruiting class. They’ve got contrasting styles, and join a room with four players who’ve held rotation roles.

Here’s what the coach said about his newest backs:

Deshaun Fenwick

6-foot-1, 222 pounds, Bradenton, Fla. (Braden River)

“A 6-foot, 220-pound back. Extremely talented, big back, tough, hard-nosed runner, has really good hands out of the backfield, really good blocker, extremely bright, but this is a big, explosive back that we’re excited about. Bobby Bentley did a fantastic job in the recruiting process with Deshaun. We’re really excited about him.”

Lavonte Valentine

5-foot-11, 190 pounds, Melbourne, Fla. (Melbourne Central Catholic)

“Won the 100 meter last year in the state of Florida, was a 10.66, I believe was the winning time that year. He’s been as low as a 10.40. He will run track here at South Carolina as well. He did injure his knee this past fall. He’s working through the rehab with that. I talked to him a little while ago and he seems to think it’s going extremely well. He has a 4.0 GPA, extremely intelligent young man, bright student, so excited that he will be helping the Gamecocks on the football field and running track. Excited to have that speed and having a guy who can run like he does.”

This story was originally published December 22, 2017 at 11:46 AM with the headline "What Will Muschamp likes about his thunder-and-lightning duo of running back recruits."