From Chancellor High School to Saint Francis University and now to the University of South Carolina, Jason Brown and EJ Jenkins are ready to play together on another football team.
The quarterback-wide receiver duo from Fredericksburg, Virginia, will be relocated to South Carolina, after spending the last 3.5 years together at Saint Francis, an FCS-level program in Pennsylvania that plays at the Northeast Conference. They will enroll at the school on March 1st.
Brown led the NEC in passing yards (3,084) and touchdowns (28) in 2019. Jenkins’ 13 touchdown catches set a school record in a single season.
Jenkins, listed as a 6-foot-8, 235-pound wide receiver on the Saint Francis website, had 39 catches for 779 yards during the 2019 campaign. Brown (6-4, 230) completed 251 of 403 passes for 3,084 yards. He averaged 7.7 yards per attempt, completed 62 percent of his passes, averaged 257.0 yards per game and launched six interceptions in 12 games.
After the 2019 season, Brown was an All-American honorable mention. Both were voted as second-team All-NEC.
South Carolina coach Shane Beamer offered transfers to San Francisco during a Zoom chat earlier this month, just over 24 hours after a Zoom with the offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfieldrunning backs coach Des Kitchings and tight-ended trainer Erik Kimrey. Before the South Carolina team included the pair as a commitment, they wanted to make sure that the school’s admissions department authorized them to apply, and that happened on Tuesday.
The San Francisco season, which was originally postponed to spring, was canceled earlier this month by the university. The two players, who have known each other since high school, quickly entered their names on the NCAA Transfer Portal.
Brown will enter a quarterback room that includes two starting games Luke Doty and Colten Gauthier, who enrolled in South Carolina earlier this month. Both will be classified as freshmen in 2021, thanks to the NCAA eligibility rules.
As a pass catcher, Jenkins will have the chance to contribute to several returning players, including Nick Muse, which moved to South Carolina in 2019 from William & Mary. Muse, the Gamecocks’ biggest pass receiver last season, ended up with 30 receptions for 425 yards and a touchdown.
Georgia Tech Wide Receiver Transfer Ahmarean Brown enrolled in South Carolina on Monday. Delaware Linebacker Darryl Williams and the defensive coasts of Southern Georgia David Spaulding were also transferred, to enter the first season of Beamer. Georgia State off the linebacker Jordan Strachan and Nebraska defensive tackle Jahkeem Green both enrolled in South Carolina.