2 hometown Gamecocks plan to be at USC an extra season after NCAA change
South Carolina linebacker Damani Staley had been facing down his final season in a Gamecocks uniform.
On Wednesday, in a video interview with the school’s communications information staff, he said he plans to be in Columbia through 2021 after a tweak in the NCAA’s eligibility rules during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The NCAA allowed all players to not count the 2020 season against their eligibility, opening up a range of decisions for the players. Some might want to get on to the NFL, or not be in college for so long. Staley, who joined the team in 2017, has no plans to leave after the season.
“I thought about it. I’m coming back for another season,” Staley said, “whether or not we still have a season. I always had that in mind that I’m going to always come back.”
Staley played as a true freshman and never used his redshirt. And now he’s officially a senior.
His workload has grown from mostly special teams as a freshman to a modest rotation role in 2018 to a larger one last season. He made 22 tackles at the team’s weakside spot and has been filling in at middle linebacker with starter Ernest Jones out during camp.
Tight end Will Register is only a redshirt junior with two seasons of eligibility left, but he also plans to use that extra year brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
“I love it,” Register said. “I love this university, I love this football team. Shoot, I’m going to be here as long as I can be. They’re going to have to kick me out the door.”
Both Staley (Ridge View) and Register (Chapin) starred a local high schools.
Register gives a look at the new offense
South Carolina often found itself strapped at the tight end position last year, but Register expects the new offense under coordinator Mike Bobo will make better use of that position.
“We’ve been rolling a lot more two-tight end packages, so it’s been fun to get in there with a lot of different guys and a lot of different looks,” Register said.
Register has mostly held smaller roles his first three years on campus, but teammates said he’s been coming on of late. At 6-foot-4, 245 pounds, he’s built in the mold of a bigger in-line guy.
He was once the first commit of the 2017 class, back when the Steve Spurrier staff was still at USC. He learned from the likes of Hayden Hurst, K.C. Crosby and Kyle Markway, and now he expects Bobo to put him and his fellow tight ends to work.
“Selfishly for us tight ends, we love it,” Register said. “Because we’re seeing a lot more versatile stuff. We’re playing out wide. We’re coming back in, we’re playing fullback, we’re all over the field.”
Other practice tidbits
▪ In a school news release about Wednesday’s practice, Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said the team did more specific situational things, working on punting leading into a 1-minute drill.
▪ The coach did note that fatigue with camp was starting to set in a little bit. This week was set to be the team’s first game on the pre-COVID schedule.
▪ The team will have an evening scrimmage at 6 p.m. Saturday.
This story was originally published September 2, 2020 at 2:10 PM.
