South Carolina quarterback/wide receiver Dakereon Joyner ended any remaining speculation that he might transfer out of the program with a message on Twitter Monday night.
"Confidence thrives on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection and on unselfish performance," Joyner said. "Without them it cannot live. When GOD says it's SHOWTIME, there isn't a single person that can say CUT. I was never taught to quit something I started!"
Joyner played both quarterback and wide receiver for the Gamecocks this season as a redshirt freshman, completing 16 of 28 passes for 168 yards, rushing 29 times for 107 yards and a touchdown, and catching six passes for 46 yards.
"He's done everything we've asked of him as far as what you've got to do to be successful to help our football team," head coach Will Muschamp said of Joyner during a call-in show late in the season. "Has been so unselfish in trying to help us in what we try to do to be better offensively and be better as a football team. I'm extremely proud of him."
During that appearance and following the Gamecocks' final game of the season, Muschamp seemed encouraged about Joyner's future with the program.
As did new quarterbacks coach and offensive coordinator Mike Bobo, who said at his introductory press conference that he was excited to get to work with Joyner.
“I got a chance to meet DK. I'm really impressed with him. He's a guy that wants to do whatever he can to help this football team,” Bobo said. “That was the first words out of his mouth. It wasn't I need to play quarterback. I need to do this. It was, ‘Coach, I want to help this football team. I want to do whatever it takes to help this team be successful’.”’
The 6-foot-1, 205-pounder joined the South Carolina program out of Fort Dorchester as part of the class of 2018 following one of the most prolific high school careers in state of South Carolina history.
Named the state's Mr. Football in 2017, Joyner finished his high school career with 9,745 passing yards, 3,324 rushing yards, and 157 total touchdowns, while compiling a 40-3 record as starting quarterback.
During his first season on campus, Joyner played in one game, a blowout win over Chattanooga, while taking a redshirt.
Joyner entered this past offseason in a battle with freshman Ryan Hilinski for the backup quarterback job, a competition that went all the way to the end of fall camp.
Looking for a way to help the team after Hilinski won the backup job, Joyner started the season as the team's No. 3 quarterback, but filled in as a second-team slot receiver and eventually moved into the No. 2 quarterback role following Jake Bentley's injury.
The highlight of Joyner's, and South Carolina's, season came when he was thrust into action on the road against Georgia, and helped lead the Gamecocks to a 20-17 win over the No. 3 Bulldogs.
Joyner's season was slowed by a nagging hamstring injury that kept him out of several games and a concussion that kept him out of the Gamecocks' finale against Clemson.
While there's been speculation since preseason camp about a potential Joyner transfer as it's becoming commonplace in today's college game among quarterbacks, Joyner's message appears to have ended that for now with the new semester set to begin.
