Daley staying close to home

Two years ago, Dennis Daley was grinding away at a junior college in the small town of Milledgeville, Ga., patiently waiting for his shot at South Carolina.

Saturday, he became an NFL offensive lineman and is staying close to campus.

Daley was taken on the third day of the NFL draft, taken in the sixth round, No. 212 overall by the Carolina Panthers.

Daley becomes the third Gamecock taken in the draft, the first time multiple South Carolina players have been drafted since 2016 when Pharoh Cooper, Brandon Shell and Jerrell Adams all heard their names called.

Also see: Latest scoop on this weekend's list of visitors

Deebo Samuel was taken No. 36 overall Friday night by the San Francisco 49ers and Rashad Fenton was taken earlier in the sixth round (No. 201 overall) by the Chiefs.

Daley stepped on campus two seasons ago after transferring in from Georgia Military College and quickly became one of the team's impact players on the team's offensive line.

He started 24 games over two years, all at left tackle and was the anchor on an offensive line that was arguably the best offensive group last season.

Daley played well enough to earn an invitation to both the Reese's Senior Bowl and NFL Combine, where he was able bolster his draft stock entering April's draft.

Also see: Griffin shares insider stories on what went wrong at the end of the Spurrier era

The NFL Draft continues through Saturday with the final round on ESPN, ABC and the NFL Network.

There is still time for a few Gamecocks to hear their names called with most notably Zack Bailey, Blake Camper and Bryson Allen-Williams still on the board.