QB Jake Bentley, WR Chavis Dawkins already working on timing

South Carolina’s football signees are still a couple of weeks away from arriving on campus, but some future Gamecocks are getting a head start on working out together.

Opelika quarterback Jake Bentley and Byrnes wide receiver Chavis Dawkins are meeting up in Spartanburg to throw the ball around and work on building chemistry in preparation for the upcoming season.

“I texted him and said, ‘Do you want to throw today?’ And he was like, ‘Heck yeah,’ ” Bentley said. “Being able to get that timing down, it’s going to help us in the long run.”

Bentley and Dawkins played on the same team at Byrnes when Dawkins was in ninth grade and Bentley was in eighth but have not played together since.

Still, they have kept in touch and remain close friends.

“We’re going to be rooming together and staying together, so it’s going to be fun,” Bentley said.

South Carolina fans are hopeful that the rapport the two are building now will lead to success in Columbia. Bentley is expected to compete with Brandon McIlwain, Perry Orth and others for the starting quarterback job, while Dawkins has a chance to earn early playing time for an offense that is lacking playmakers at receiver.

“He’s got great hands and he’s really fast,” Bentley said of Dawkins. “I think he has a lot of tools to be successful.”

This story was originally published May 17, 2016 at 3:04 PM with the headline "QB Jake Bentley, WR Chavis Dawkins already working on timing."