Dakereon Joyner: 'This is home'

South Carolina redshirt sophomore Dakereon Joyner had made it clear over the years that he originally signed with the Gamecocks to play quarterback.

But as South Carolina has worked through its first week of spring practice, Joyner has spent all four workouts exclusively at the wide receiver position - and with a grin on his face the entire time.

Asked Tuesday about the change in thought process, the Fort Dorchester graduate said it's simple: the Palmetto State is where he wants to be.

"This is home," Joyner said. "I think since my 9th grade year of high school, I kinda established, the state of South Carolina, I kinda wanted to take it over and I did in high school. This is my home and I want to continue to stay here and continue to take it over."

After Joyner spent last season rotating between wide receiver and quarterback (the dynamic playmaker would literally spend practices throwing passes in one period and catching them in the next), many speculated that he might look towards the transfer portal this offseason, as many top quarterbacks are prone to do in the current college football landscape.

But rather than move locations to play quarterback, Joyner simply moved positions and is spending the spring learning the intricacies of the receiver position.

"I always knew I wanted to be here," Joyner said. "So whatever way I could stay here and be the best person I could be and the best person on the field to create better opportunities for me in the future, I did."

Joyner says the position switch has been relatively smooth as his natural gifts have taken over at times. He's leaned on wide receivers coach Bryan McClendon, a perfectionist as far as technique is concerned, according to Joyner, in learning the ins and outs of route running.

He's also paid close attention to current teammates Shi Smith, Josh Vann and Xavier Legette.

"I know I'm explosive," Joyner says. "With the ball in my hands, I'm electric, I think everybody knows that. I've just got to get the basics down, the route-running and stuff like that, and once I get that down, I think it will be over with."

His play so far has caught the attention of head coach Will Muschamp.

"He's done a nice job at receiver," Muschamp said. "He's been playing in the slot and had a big third-down conversion on Friday. And continues to do a good job. It's all new for him. That's the frustrating part about last fall, when we made that move, he could have had the entire fall to go through and be a receiver and learn all of the different things you've got to learn at the new position. It's all new for him and he's done a nice job with it."

While many college or high school wide receivers may model their games after recent greats like Julio Jones or Antonio Brown or Desean Jackson, Joyner grew up with his eye on the players throwing the ball rather than the ones on the other end of passes.

That's led to a much more recent NFL standout who Joyner is hoping to model his game after.

Deebo.

"Deebo Samuel, a very electric guy," Joyner said. "A guy that after he catches the ball, YAC yards and stuff like that. I always watch Deebo. Other than that, I've never really looked into other receivers. But definitely Deebo Samuel."

Samuel was, of course, a do-it-all playmaker for the Gamecocks' offense, before taking his game to the NFL this past season. If Joyner can bring even a portion of that ability to South Carolina’s 2020 offense, then it should mean big things for him and the team.

"It's fun," Joyner said. "It's definitely exciting. Just finding ways to contribute, so we can win, man. I think that's the biggest thing."