South Carolina quarterback LaNorris Sellers has no interest in poking the bear ahead of the Gamecocks’ 2025 season. Choosing to go a different route this week compared to Florida State’s Thomas Castellanos, the rising junior refused to give Alabama bulletin board material.
“Shoot, Alabama’s still Alabama to me,” Sellers said on “The Zach Gelb Show” Tuesday. “They were good last year. They’re a good team. They’re big, strong and fast. That’s how I remember watching them growing up. And I don’t really think they’ve changed that much. Obviously, they have a new coaching staff and all that. But that’s still SEC ball. They’re still Alabama.”
Castellanos, who transferred from Boston College to the Seminoles this offseason, told On3 Alabama doesn’t “have Nick Saban to save them” this season ahead of Florida State’s opener against the Crimson Tide.
Florida State is a 12.5-point underdog (and +390 moneyline) against Alabama, according to FanDuel Sportsbook. South Carolina hosts the Crimson Tide on Oct. 25 and is searching for its first win over Alabama since upsetting Nick Saban’s top-ranked team coming off a national title in 2010.
Sellers is the key cog in South Carolina’s national rise under Shane Beamer after a season to remember as a redshirt freshman last fall. Prior to the Gamecocks’ bowl loss to Illinois, Sellers led his team on a six-game winning streak during the second half of the slate, which included four wins over nationally ranked competition and put South Carolina in the College Football Playoff conversation for the first time in program history.
Sellers has been slotted as a projected top-10 pick in several recent mocks for the 2026 NFL Draft and has impressed scouts with his raw ability since bursting onto the scene during the Gamecocks’ loss to LSU last season. Sellers, who was injured late in the first half, helped South Carolina get out to a 24-10 advantage behind a 75-yard touchdown run in the second quarter.
Sellers threw for 2,534 yards and 18 touchdowns as a first-year starter, while accumulating 674 yards and seven scores on the ground. Sellers joined Johnny Manziel and Jalen Hurts last season as the only quarterback in FBS history to throw for 2,500 yards and rush for 500 yards.
South Carolina nearly toppled Alabama on the road behind two touchdown passes from Sellers, but his final throw sailed into the arms of Crimson Tide cornerback Domani Jackson from midfield as time expired after the Gamecocks recovered an onside kick during a 27-25 loss.
For Beamer, having a reliable difference-maker to lead the offense and players around him makes his job much easier.
“I just love how steady and consistent he is,” Beamer told The Big Spur in April. “He’s a guy that, he’s the same guy, you guys that have been around him and know him, he never changes his personality. He’s steady, consistent, and that’s a great quality to have in a leader. That’s a great quality to have in your quarterback, and that’s what he is.Â
He got better every game last year as the season went on, and I think the thing for LaNorris this year is just continue to make those strides to continue to improve as a quarterback, and there’s a lot that he can do from that standpoint in the passing game and the run game.”
Sellers turned down a supposed $8 million NIL offer from another program this offseason to re-sign with the Gamecocks, according to his father.Â
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