Turnetine impressing teammates, coaches early
Deshaun Fenwick still remembers the first time he met Jazston Turnetine.
Fenwick, who’s not a small human being himself at 6-foot-1, 220 pounds, remembers the feeling as he was dwarfed by the behemoth of a man.
“I was like, ‘Bruh, where did we get this guy from?’” Fenwick said, smiling. “First off I thought he was a freshman and I was like he’s too big to be a freshman. Then they were telling me he was a JUCO guy. I’m like he’s big.”
To say Turnetine is an understatement, like saying the ocean is wet or the desert is sandy.
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The junior college tackle checks in officially at 6-foot-7, 330 pounds, the tallest scholarship player on the team (walk-on receiver Patrick Reedy is also 6-foot-7) by two inches and outweighing the second-heaviest player by five pounds (Jordan Rhodes, 325).
Coming out of Hutchinson Community College, he’d commit to South Carolina over offers from Arizona, Houston, Missouri, TCU and West Virginia, giving the Gamecocks one of their biggest commitments ever, literally.
“We’re able to watch him workout in the spring. Coach Wolford went and evaluated him and really liked his feet and flexibility in his lower body,” Will Muschamp said. “We’re very fortunate to have him here. I think he’s a really good player. I think he’s got a really good upside and just scratching the surface of how good he can be.”
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But, as the season inched closer this September, the tackle tailor-made to take over at left tackle was on the outside looking in from the starting lineup.
Because he’s a bigger player and deals with asthma, Turnetine showed up to preseason camp a little out of shape and it took him three weeks into the season to feel comfortable from a conditioning standpoint.
“It was just me being big, being a fat guy. That’s all it was,” Turnetine said. “I just had to shake off the fat and start playing faster and breathing more. I have asthma so it was just beating me all around. I just had to get back right.”
He got his chance to show the kind of impact he can have up front, earning the start against Auburn and helping anchor the line in the Gamecocks’ 30-22 win over the Tigers.
In 71 snaps, he’d finish with a 60.7 pass block grade and a run block grade of 45.5 with just one pressure allowed in 29 pass block snaps.
“I could have played a lot faster and a lot stronger,” Turnetine said. “Since it was my first game I was trying to adapt to the environment, control my breathing and play up to a certain standard to the rest of the O-line and show them I could be there and be there forever.”
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It seems like the Gamecocks found the answer at left tackle with Turnetine as they get ready to face LSU Saturday (7 p.m./ESPN) and Turnetine isn’t nervous about heading to Death Valley for his first road game.
“Every player is another player to me,” he said. “I don’t care about their name, what ranking they are. That’s nothing to me. It’s just another person.”
