Jeffery ends three-year career with a slew of records
South Carolina wide receiver Alshon Jeffery and cornerback Stephon Gilmore have decided to waive their last year of eligibility and enter the 2012 NFL draft, ESPN’s Joe Schad reported.
USC confirmed the departure of Jeffery in a statement but did not issue a statement on Gilmore.
“I plan to forgo my senior season and enter the NFL draft,” Jeffery said in the statement. “I would like to thank the fans, my teammates, coach (Steve) Spurrier and everyone involved for all the opportunities South Carolina has provided me. I am proud to say I will always be a Gamecock.”
Jeffery leaves South Carolina as the school’s all-time leader in receiving yards with 3,042, the second-highest total in SEC history. He is also one of just three players in conference history with more than 3,000 career-receiving yards. He ends his three-year career as a Gamecock with 183 receptions, a record-tying 23 touchdowns and a school-record 12 100-yard receiving games.
Gilmore, who hails from Rock Hill, S.C., has played in 39 games as a Gamecock, finishing with 176 total tackles, seven sacks and seven interceptions. He was named a Freshman All-American by three news outlets and was also voted onto the Freshman All-SEC team by the league’s coaches. In his second season, Gilmore was named a third-team All-American by the Associated Press.
“It’s my time to leave,” Gilmore told Schad. “It’s about my family. I can press, man. I can play physical. I have good size, and I will try to do things like Al Harris did in the NFL. I will miss coach Spurrier and South Carolina.”
Juniors D.J. Swearinger and DeVonte Holloman told reporters before the Capital One Bowl that they will return to South Carolina for their senior season, while defensive end Devin Taylor is still undecided.
Miles still not ready to make decision on whether to return to USC: Tailback Kenny Miles, who is considering a transfer to a different program, said after the game that he still needs to talk to his family before making his decision.
“I don’t really have one,” Miles said on his timetable for his decision. “I’m enjoying this win, so I don’t know.”
Two-sport star Bruce Ellington is also still undecided as to whether he will play just one sport exclusively next year or if he’ll continue to play both football and basketball. He missed the game against USC Upstate on Dec. 31 but played against South Carolina State the day after the bowl game.
Ingram, Allen invited to Senior Bowl: Defensive end Melvin Ingram and safety Antonio Allen have both officially accepted invitations to the 2012 Senior Bowl in Mobile, Ala., on Jan. 28.
Ingram is only the third consensus All-American in USC history after a season in which he had three touchdowns, 10 sacks and two interceptions. Allen was named a second-team All-American and All-SEC by the Associated Press, tallying 9.5 tackles for loss, four forced fumbles, three fumble recoveries and three interceptions.
South Carolina to get rings: The Gamecocks will have rings made to commemorate the program’s first 11-win season.
“Eleven wins we said, hey, if we are fortunate enough to beat these guys, we’ll get rings,” Spurrier said. “We saved 350 bucks out of their allotment from the bowl so they can get rings. It will have a big ol’ 11 on them, and it is neat for this group of seniors to say, hey, I played on the best team ever from South Carolina. The record speaks for itself as the best team ever.”
He said it: Punter Joey Scribner-Howard averaged 34 yards per punt in the first half of the Capital One Bowl, and kicker Jay Wooten also booted a ball out of bounds on a kickoff, which prompted this gem of a quote from Spurrier.
“Every time our punter shanks — generally he’s a great kid and does the best he can,” Spurrier said. “You never see me yell at the punter when he kicks one of those 25-yarders. He does it in practice, too. It is what it is. And when Jay kicked that one out of bounds, I said, ‘Jay, what are you doing?’ I asked coach (John) Butler, ‘What is he doing?’ and he’s demonstrating to Jay that you’re supposed to drive the ball, and I said, ‘Coach Butler, do you realize you’re on television right now acting like an idiot trying to demonstrate how to kick the ball?’”