How a former 3-star recruit is now favored to win the Heisman

Not a lot of people knew about LaNorris Sellers entering last season. Today, he’s the hottest ticket in the SEC.

Sellers announced himself to the football world last fall, turning a 5-7 South Carolina team last season into a top 25 squad in one of the hardest divisions of college football.

LaNorris Sellers chose South Carolina at the very last moment

Sellers grew up watching the Gamecocks on his TV. He was born and raised in Florence, South Carolina, and attended South Florence High School for all four years of high school.

Sellers wasn’t short of options heading into college despite being listed as the 16th-best quarterback of his class. He received over 11 Division I offers and initially committed to the University of Virginia (UVA). He’d change his commitment to Syracuse University a few months later, as UVA’s quarterback coach, Jason Beck, and offensive coordinator, Robert Anae, made the move to Syracuse.

If it were up to him, he would’ve chosen to stay close to home and never given other schools false hope. However, South Carolina only offered him a scholarship a week before the early signing period in late December 2022. As someone who values trust and relationships, Sellers said that telling the Syracuse coaching staff that he wasn’t going to push through was one of the hardest things he’s had to do.

“I was supposed to sign that Wednesday,” Lanorris said. “But I felt so bad that I ended up pushing my signing back until late Friday. I second-guessed myself a bunch in those three days.”

Sellers spent most, if not all, of his freshman season learning the ropes. He was the backup to future NFL QB Spencer Rattler and appeared in only three games. In those games, Sellers threw for 86 yards and completed all of his four pass attempts.

Sellers is now projected to be one of the top picks of the 2026 NFL draft

He immediately turned the program around once Sellers was given the starting role. He finished with 3,200 total yards, 25 touchdowns, and a completion percentage of 65%.

Sellers also led the Gamecocks to shocking upsets against the following teams:

No.10 Texas A&M
No.12 Clemson
No.23 Missouri
A win against Oklahoma on the road

He’d even receive an $8 million NIL offer to switch schools. But he chose to stick around to continue building on what he built last season.

What separates Sellers from the likes of Arch Maning and Garrett Nussmeier is his unique combination of arm strength and speed. At 6-foot-3 and weighing 240 lbs., Sellers is a dual-threat quarterback that doesn’t come very often.

But now he has a target on his back. Teams now have him as the focal point of their scouting report after falling under the radar most of last season. If Sellers can maintain, or even raise his level of play compared to last season, there should be no reason why he won’t be the first player to hear his name called in next year’s draft.