Emmanwori Named Semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award

University of South Carolina safety Nick Emmanwori has been selected as one of 14 semifinalists for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award, the Maxwell Football Club announced today.

Emmanwori, a 6-4, 218-pounder from Irmo, S.C., was inserted into the lineup in the first series of the season following an injury to R.J. Roderick, and has played regularly since. He became the first member of the freshman class of 2022 to earn a starting assignment when he made the start at Arkansas in week 2. He has been in double-figures in tackles twice, logging 11 stops at Arkansas and a game- and career-high 14 tackles versus Georgia, all solo stops. The 14 stops against the Bulldogs was the most tackles in a game by a Gamecock since Ernest Jones collected 18 tackles at Ole Miss in 2020. Emmanwori leads the team with 51 tackles. The last freshman to lead the Gamecocks in tackles was Skai Moore in 2013. Emmanwori was named to Midseason True Freshman All-America first-team unit as selected by both On3 and CollegeFootballNews (CFN).

The Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award has been presented to the College Freshman Player of the Year since 2018 and is named in honor of Shaun Alexander, a former standout at the University of Alabama and with the Seattle Seahawks in the NFL. The award Past winners include; Trevor Lawrence (Clemson) – 2018, Kenneth Gainwell (Memphis)-2019, Will Anderson Jr. (Alabama) – 2020 and Brock Bowers (Georgia) – 2021.

Finalists for the 5th annual Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year award will be December 6, 2022 and the winner of the award will be announced on December 29, 2022. The formal presentation of this award will be made at the Maxwell Football Club Awards Gala in March of 2023.