South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers using NIL funds to give back to South Florence
Just two-and-a-half years after guiding South Florence to its first state title, LaNorris Sellers is bringing the football program added resources.
At a ceremony on Thursday night, the man who wore No. 16 throughout high school and now at South Carolina will donate a $16,000 check to the South Florence football program. It’s part of a meet-and-greet that’s free to the public and begins at 6 p.m. at the high school.
“I’m just really giving back to the school,” Sellers told The State, “just for everything they’ve done for me, my brothers, all the other players, who went to colleges, the development, the relationships.”
Before he was a hero against Clemson or a Heisman front-runner, Sellers was an elementary-schooler whose reward for making the honor roll was going to a South Florence varsity game, running out of the tunnel with the players and taking pictures with them afterward.
A few years later, he was the school’s star.
After a 4-7 season during Sellers’ freshman year that saw coach David Prince resign, South Florence hired Drew Marlowe and went just 2-6 in a COVID-shortened 2020. The next season, a junior Sellers had the Bruins positioned for a state title run before a freak injury in late September ended his season.
If Sellers felt the pressure of his goals and dreams resting on a single season — well, then South Carolina will try and produce some similar stress. Because South Florence went 15-0, beat A.C. Flora in the lower state title by two scores then thrashed Northwestern by nearly four touchdowns in the 4A state championship.
Sellers finished his senior season with nearly 4,300 total yards and 62 touchdowns, capped off with a masterful state title game where he threw for 260 yards, rushed for 192 and accounted for six scores.
It was the culmination of something Marlowe told him as a sophomore.
“(I remember) him saying like, ‘We have some really good players here. We’re gonna win a state championship here while you’re here,’ ” Sellers said. “(Coach Marlowe) sets his goals and does everything it takes to reach them.”
South Florence — with Sellers’ brother, Jayden, as the star wide receiver before also enrolling at South Carolina — won the state title last year.
Meanwhile, LaNorris Sellers was becoming one of the most-popular quarterbacks in America. And, now, with college football in the NIL era, that means he can capitalize. He signed a deal with the South Carolina NIL collective, Garnet Trust, in January and has a number of brand deals, including the Dick Dyer car dealerships.
“It was never really about the money for me,” Sellers said. “It’s good to have. It’s good that college players are making money. … (But) there’s no reason to just go out and blow it on stuff that you didn’t need before.”
Though Sellers admitted he’s made a few flashy purchases — stuff like a Louis Vuitton wallet, apparel and shoes — but he also showed up to teammate Nick Emmanwori’s draft party in South Carolina in sweats and Birkenstocks.
“Football can always end,” Sellers said. “So you wanna save your money and have it for when you actually need it.”
Or when you want to give back to your alma mater.
This story was originally published April 30, 2025 at 9:00 AM.
