Connor Shaw, a South Carolina football hall of famer, knows a future one when he sees one.
Shaw, who led the Gamecocks to three bowl victories as the quarterback from 2010-13, sees that same kind of honorable talent in redshirt sophomore LaNorris Sellers.
Advertisement
“LaNorris is special,” Shaw said June 5 before teeing off in the BMW Charity Pro-Am golf tournament at Thornblade Club in Greer.
Shaw remembers the first time he was really blown over while watching Norris. It was during a span of 47 seconds of clock time during a Nov. 16 game against Missouri at Williams-Brice Stadium.
Norris took the Gamecocks 70 yards on six plays, and they scored a touchdown with 15 seconds left to beat Missouri, 34-30.
“Big game. Night game. A lot of emotion,” Shaw said. “For him to be even keeled and to send his team down to the field to just go win, as a freshman, you don’t see that a lot in the SEC.”
Advertisement
Shaw led South Carolina to three straight 11-win seasons, including a 17-0 record at home. The Gamecocks beat Michigan in the Outback Bowl, and Nebraska and Wisconsin in the Capital One Bowl.
Shaw was elected to the South Carolina athletics hall of fame in 2021.
HOW TO WATCH: What to know about the 2025 BMW Pro-Am golf tournament: Celebrity list, schedule, more
Sellers, who redshirted after three games in 2023, was named national freshman of the year in 2024 after passing for 2,274 yards (64.9 completion percentage) with 17 touchdowns. He also ran for 909 yards and seven TDs.
South Carolina went 9-4, including 5-3 in the SEC, and lost 21-17 to Illinois in the Cheez-It Citrus Bowl. The Gamecocks will open the 2025 season Aug. 31 at Virginia Tech.
Advertisement
“LaNorris is what college football is gravitating towards,” Shaw said. “He’s big (6-foot-3, 240 pounds) and mobile and smart and can make all the throws. And he’s young. He’s only played so much ball. I think he’s going to play this game for a long, long time.”
Connor Shaw: Cutter Woods ‘high ceiling’ at South Carolina
Shaw said he can already sense a similar vibe around freshman Cutter Woods, the former Westside standout. Woods will battle for the backup job with redshirt freshman Air Noland, a transfer from Ohio State.
Woods led Westside to a 27-2 record in his last two seasons, including 27 straight victories, a state championship and a second appearance with a one-point loss. He was the 2024 Upstate Player of the Year in 2024 and twice a finalist for South Carolina Mr. Football.
Advertisement
“He has a high ceiling, too,” Shaw said. “I know the coaching staff is really high on him. He can make a lot of great throws. And he likes to be coached. I talked to him a little bit at spring ball. He’s definitely mature. When the starters were taking their reps, he was back there doing the same motions. I liked seeing that. It’s good to have one in the wings.”
Todd Shanesy covers high school athletics for the Greenville News, Spartanburg Herald-Journal and Anderson Independent Mail in the USA TODAY Network. Contact him by email at todd.shanesy@shj.com. Follow him on X, formerly called Twitter, at @ToddShanesySHJ.
This article originally appeared on Greenville News: What ex-South Carolina QB Connor Shaw likes best about LaNorris Sellers
