July 12, 2012

The University of South Carolina football team was represented by eight players on the 2012 Coaches Preseason All-SEC teams, the league office announced today. The Gamecocks had two players receive first-team recognition, four players earn spots on the second team and two players make the preseason All-SEC third team.

Heading the list of Gamecocks are preseason first-team selections Marcus Lattimore, a six-foot, 218-pound running back from Duncan, S.C., and Jadeveon Clowney, a 6-6. 256-pound sophomore defensive end from Rock Hill, S.C.

The SEC second unit features four Gamecock seniors: center T.J. Johnson, a 6-6, 319-pounder from Aynor, S.C.; 6-8, 267-pound defensive end Devin Taylor from Beaufort, S.C.; 6-2, 241-pound outside linebacker DeVonte Holloman from Charlotte, N.C.; and six-foot, 210-pound defensive back D.J. Swearinger from Greenwood, S.C.

The two Gamecocks making the third team unit include senior defensive back Akeem Auguste, a 5-9, 188-pound defensive back from Hollywood, Fla., and all-purpose performer Bruce Ellington, a 5-9, 197-pound sophomore from Moncks Corner, S.C.

This marks the ninth straight year of the SEC Coaches Pre-Season All-SEC Team. The team is announced each year in advance of the SEC Football Media Days. This year, the event will be held next Tuesday through Thursday at the Wynfrey Hotel in Hoover, Ala.

Twelve of the 14 SEC schools had a representative on the first-team and every school had at least two players named to one of the three units.

The All-SEC first-team squad had 12 seniors and 16 underclassmen, including 14 juniors and two sophomores. The second-team had 17 seniors, 10 juniors and one sophomore. The third-team had 16 seniors, 12 juniors and three sophomores.