He’s not played for the Gamecocks yet, but reserve speedster has ‘another gear’

This season, South Carolina football had four running backs it relies on, plus promising freshman Deshaun Fenwick, who played in multiple games as he redshirted.

That quintet will likely be back next year, with four seniors in position for a final run, give or take A.J. Turner’s future on defense. But behind them, one back has been working, drawing a little attention from those on the team.

Lavonete Valentine didn’t take the field in 2018. A knee injury in high school all but assured he’d redshirt this season, especially with the other four or five runners in front of him.

With that setup, he’s likely in line for another season behind the scenes, but that doesn’t mean the speedster can’t show something with the work he gets.

“He’s got another gear,” Gamecocks coach Will Muschamp said. “He’s done a nice job. He’s got good vision.”

At 6-foot, 190 pounds, he represents a chance for USC to get a lot of speed in the backfield. He won a Florida state sprinting title, running a 10.61-second 100-yard dash in 2017. As a high school junior, he averaged 9.6 yards a carry on the way to 884 yards with 16 total scores. He had at least four 50-yard runs in that last healthy high school season.

In terms of South Carolina football’s two-sport athletes, tight end and basketball player Evan Hinson gets most of the attention, but the plan is for Valentine to dabble in track as well this season, working around spring football.

Muschamp said all that was contingent on his ability to stay on top of things academically.

“To my knowledge, so far, he’s done extremely well,” Muschamp said.

USC will have A.J. Turner, Ty’Son Williams, Rico Dowdle and Mon Denson around next season, and the past few years, USC has needed all of them because of an array of small injuries. Fenwick is a heavier option, with 30 pounds on Valentine, and ran for 118 yards in two games this season.

The place Valentine might contribute is on special teams, where the staff is always looking to use running backs and get speed on the field. Top returner Deebo Samuel is gone, and punt returner Bryan Edwards provided more steadiness than flash.

USC’s run game hasn’t had much in the way of explosiveness, with only two runs longer than 40 yards, both from Denson.

So perhaps, Valentine can add a little something there.

“He’s shown another gear when he runs the football,” Muschamp said. “I think he’s got a nice future.”

This story was originally published January 3, 2019 at 3:15 PM with the headline "He’s not played for the Gamecocks yet, but reserve speedster has ‘another gear’."