South Carolina lands first portal addition in Florida transfer tight end

South Carolina’s tight end room received major boost on Sunday.

Florida transfer Nick Elksnis announced his commitment to USC via Twitter following two years in Gainesville.

Elksnis was originally a three-star recruit and the No. 431 player in the 2019 class, per the 247Sports Composite. The Jacksonville native was initially committed to Penn State before choosing Florida.

He appeared in nine games during his two years at Florida, mostly on special teams, and did not record a catch during that time.

Elksnis visited Columbia this week and was at the Gamecocks’ first bowl practice on Thursday.

South Carolina is incredibly thin at tight end heading into the offseason following the departures of Jaheim Bell (Florida State) and Austin Stogner (Oklahoma). Traevon Kenion also previously announced he was stepping away from football, while Nate Adkins will exhaust his eligibility following the Gator Bowl against No. 21 Notre Dame on Dec. 30.

This story was originally published December 18, 2022 at 12:51 PM with the headline "South Carolina lands first portal addition in Florida transfer tight end."

Ben Portnoy

The State

Ben Portnoy is The State’s South Carolina Gamecocks football beat writer. He’s a 10-time Associated Press Sports Editors award honoree and has earned recognition from the Mississippi Press Association and the National Sports Media Association. Portnoy previously covered Mississippi State for the Columbus Commercial Dispatch and Indiana football for the Journal Gazette in Ft. Wayne, IN.