SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS FOOTBALL

For the time being, the South Carolina football team and the track and field program are sharing Lavonte Valentine and his 4.3 speed.

The former FHSAA 4A state championship in the 100 meter dash, signed with the Gamecocks as a three-star running back, but has also been competing - and excelling - with the track team this spring.

Valentine was slowed last football season as he continued to rehab a knee injury that cut short his senior year of sports at Melbourne Central Catholic in Melbourne, Fla.

But Valentine has seemingly returned to form this spring competing for the Gamecocks in two events before he returns to the football program this summer.

"There's no limitations at all," head football coach Will Muschamp said Wednesday. "He's obviously got to get in the weight room and it's a different thought process as far as the track conditioning and the physicality you deal with in football. Once he gets done with the track season, which he's had a really good year, we'll get him in the weight room and get him working. He'll be here all of May running track and he won't finish that until I think the first or second week of June, I believe, and then he'll be with us full time."

In the meantime Valentine has run the 100 meter dash and participated in the 4x100 meter relay for Carolina.

Valentine's personal record in the 100 meter dash is 10.44 seconds, a time he hit in high school. His best run this year clocked in at 10.57 seconds at the Buccaneer Invitational in March and is the fourth best run this year of anyone on the team.

Despite his time spent on the track team, Valentine has also met one-on-one with running backs coach Thomas Brown to learn both the playbook and what is expected of him from the Gamecocks' new coach.

"Lavonte made every effort that he could between practices, between days that we were off, and times that he was away from track and academics to be able to come over and meet, so as far as that's concerned, he should be caught up pretty well," Muschamp said.

Valentine's absence this spring may put him behind several others at running back at the start of fall camp, but in his speed he has something that can't be taught as arguably the fastest player on the football team.

Even if playing time at running back is hard to find this season, that could mean that Valentine is an intriguing option as special teams coordinator Coleman Hutzler looks for a suitable replacement to Deebo Samuel at kickoff returner.

"I hope so, running 10.3 or whatever the heck he's running," Hutzler said this spring, asked if Valentine would be in the mix there. "He's obviously a guy that's out right now doing track, so fall camp's going to be huge for him, and he's got to remain a level of being healthy, and I think he's finally doing that now, and he's at a good spot and obviously running fast. We've got to get him back in football mode once we flip the switch from track and in fall camp find out exactly what he can do for us, not only as a returner, but, shoot, in all phases."