It was a tough season for South Carolina, but five Gamecocks, however, found their way into the All-SEC teams voted by league coaches and the Associated Press: Running back Kevin Harris, defensive lineman Kingsley Enagbare, defender Jaycee Horn, linebacker Mohamed Kaba and bettor Kai Kroeger.
Harris, the SEC’s top defender who was notoriously scorned at the start of the award season for the Doak Walker finalist list, was also suspiciously left out of the coaches’ first team, rather than receiving a nod to the second team. The second year was seventh nationally with 1,138 yards, with five 100-yard displays and two 200-yard performances on the way to scoring 16 touchdowns in total – good for SEC SEC. Fortunately, AP had some common sense, putting it on its first team – making it the first Gamecock running back to achieve that distinction since Marcus Lattimore.
Junior Enagbare was named to the first team of coaches and the second team of the AP after shining as a leader in the defense of South Carolina, hitting six sacks (second in the SEC) and three forced fumbles (first in the league). He finished with 30 tackles, seven for defeat.
Horn, a junior who has already declared for the NFL Draft, put an exclamation point in his final year with the Gamecocks. Horn compiled 16 tackles, six pass breaks, two interceptions and one tackle for the defeat, attracting national attention with his shutdown performance against Auburn.
Kaba and Kroeger completed the Gamecocks selections with their seats on the SEC’s All-Freshman team. Kaba started three games for South Carolina, registering 13 tackles and half a tackle for loss, while Kroeger boasted an average of 43.3 yards in 10 games and also won the SEC Special Teams Player of the Week honors after his performance against Auburn.