Why South Carolina’s Dakereon Joyner returned to his roots for inaugural football camp
Dakereon Joyner slips behind the concessions stand at Fort Dorchester High School as he pins his iPhone to his ear.
Joyner was on the phone most of the early morning Saturday, a necessity demanded by running one’s own football camp. There were still a few kinks to be sorted out just a few hours away from an event that’s been in the works for months.
“I‘ve been preparing for five months and I’m still preparing to the last minute,” Joyner quipped.
The South Carolina receiver welcomed more than 70 campers to his old stomping grounds Saturday as part of the inaugural DK Joyner Football Camp. The day marked the latest development in a busy offseason for the North Charleston native.
With a Duke’s Mayo Bowl MVP in hand, a slew of name, image and likeness deals that he’s lined up over the last year, and a support system that helped him organize an event he estimated cost over $1,000 just in overhead, the camp offered a chance to give back to the place that has given Joyner so much.
“I think this is fantastic,” Fort Dorchester head coach Steve Laprad said. “Before (NIL legislation passed) this wasn’t allowed. It was a (NCAA) violation. ... This is all about community right here.”
Joyner bounced from drill to drill during Saturday’s event in a boisterous and encouraging manner not too dissimilar to that of his own head coach, Shane Beamer.
Armed with an airhorn, a whistle and a khaki bucket hat, the quarterback-turned-college receiver encouraged energy, fun and effort from the campers who ranged from sixth to 11th grade.
Current South Carolina standouts Josh Vann, Alex “Boogie” Huntley, Jordan Burch and Jovaughn Gwyn served as volunteer coaches. So, too, did a handful of Joyner’s ex-high school teammates, including Adonicas Sanders (Georgia Tech), Datron James (South Carolina State) and Davon Gilmore (Wingate), among others.
Even Joyner’s 14-week-old Bully puppies, Duke and Mayo, attended the camp in their own personalized T-shirts embroidered with Joyner’s “DK5” logo.
“Being from the Lowcountry, I was like, ‘Let me help out a Lowcountry guy,’ ” said Charles Brock, a U.S. Army combat photographer based in Fayetteville, North Carolina who offered to take photos for Joyner’s camp.
That Joyner has commanded the kind of following he has in his hometown dates back long before his time at South Carolina. The former Fort Dorchester High star torched defenses with his dynamic dual-threat ability as a prep standout.
The Patriots concluded Joyner’s four years of high school with a 54-6 record and a 40-3 mark when he started under center. Joyner himself accounted for more than 9,700 career passing yards and thrice eclipsed 1,000 yards rushing in a season over that span.
But it’s on days like Saturday that those who’ve known Joyner since he dazzled under the Friday night lights laud his off-the-field mentality.
Former South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp once joked that Joyner could be governor of the state one day. Fort Dorchester defensive coordinator Brent LaPrad has echoed similar sentiments.
“He’s big. He’s fast. He moves like a cheetah runs,” he told The State last summer. “But then you talk to him and that’s when it really blows you away. … Like even if you sit down and talk to him for five minutes, you’d be like, ‘He could be president one day.’ ”
Joyner’s career at South Carolina hasn’t quite mirrored the legendary nature of his high school days. Transitions from quarterback to receiver back to QB and over to receiver again have complicated his development at times. But there have been glimpses of the player who wowed crowds around Charleston.
His surprise start at quarterback in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl sparked South Carolina to a 38-20 win over North Carolina in a game that wasn’t as close as the score might indicate. He also finished the year fourth on the team in receiving yards and projects as a key offensive piece this fall.
Beamer joked on Tuesday at a booster event in Anderson that teams reached out to Joyner about potentially leaving South Carolina to play quarterback, rather than return to receiver as is expected in 2022 following his bowl performance.
“After he performed like he did in the (Duke’s Mayo Bowl) — schools aren’t supposed to be reaching out to to him — but he had everybody asking him to be the quarterback of their team,” Beamer said. “And he chose to stay at Carolina.”
Joyner is taking the recent attention in stride. He’s been in the spotlight plenty over the years, landing an offer from USC as a 13-year-old.
But he insists the camp, which cost $65 per camper, isn’t about profits or attention. He’s simply hoping to afford those in the area the kinds of opportunities made available to him years earlier — one logistical phone call at a time.
“I really do appreciate this opportunity,” Joyner said. “I’m trying to give back as much as possible, have fun and just kind of allow my vision to come true.”
This story was originally published May 15, 2022 at 5:00 AM.
