Nick Emmanwori

*2024 First-Team All-American (AP, Sporting News, Reese’s Senior Bowl, College FB Nation)
*2024 Second-Team All-American (FAA, SI.com, CBS Sports, Phil Steele)
*2024 First-Team All-SEC (unanimous)
*2024 Rex Enright Team Captain
*2024 Joe Morrison MVP Defense
*2023 SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll
*2022-23 co-South Carolina Athletics Male Freshman of the Year
*2022-23 SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll
*2022 First-Team Freshman All-American (ESPN, PFF, On3)
*2022 Second-Team Freshman All-American (CFN, The Athletic)
*2022 First-Team Freshman All-SEC (Coaches)
*2022 Co-Joe Morrison Award – MVP Defense
*2022 Shawn Alexander Freshman of the Year Semifinalist

Three-year player who began his career as a Freshman All-American in 2022 and capped his career as a first-team All-American in 2024… safety who appeared in 37 games with 36 starts over a three-year career… credited with 244 career tackles and six interceptions, returning two for touchdowns.

2024 (Junior)
Earned first-team All-America honors according to AP, Sporting News, Reese’s Senior Bowl and College FB Nation, and was a second-team selection by FAA, SI.com, CBS Sports and Phil Steele… was a unanimous first-team All-SEC selection… one of seven players selected as a Rex Enright permanent team captain and one of three players named the Joe Morrison MVP for defense… was a finalist for the 2024 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy, a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy… led the team with 88 tackles with 57 solo stops and 3.0 tackles for loss… had four interceptions… one of three players in the country to return two interceptions for touchdowns and ranked eighth in the nation with 107 interception return yards… named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Kentucky (seven tackles and a 24-yard interception return for a TD( and was the co-Defensive Player of the Week following the Oklahoma contest (11 tackles, 2 INT, including a 65-yard pick-six)… led the Gamecocks in tackles six times – Kentucky (7), LSU (9), Oklahoma (11), Vanderbilt (8), Missouri (11) and Wofford (5).

2023 (Sophomore)
Played in and started 11 games at either safety or nickel… ranked fourth on the team with 71 tackles, 15th in the SEC… credited with eight pass breakups, second on the squad, and a pair of interceptions along with one quarterback hurry… ranked seventh in the SEC in passes defended at 0.91 per game… recorded a season high 10 tackles twice, reaching double digits against both Georgia and Jacksonville State… went through a span of four consecutive games where he recorded at least five tackles and one pass breakup…. led the defensive effort in the win over Kentucky with a team-high nine tackles and pulled down his first collegiate interception – a leaping catch in the end zone to stall a Wildcat drive… recorded seven tackles along with his second interception in as many games in the season finale against Clemson… named to the SEC Fall Academic Honor Roll.

2022 (Freshman)
True freshman safety who moved into the lineup replacing an injured R.J. Roderick in the first series of the season and remained in that role throughout the remainder of the year, starting the final 12 games… named to the ESPN.com, the PFF and the On3 True Freshman All-America team… named second-team Freshman All-American by CFN and The Athletic… became the first Gamecock to garner Freshman All-America honors since Dylan Wonnum in 2018 and the first defensive player since Jadeveon Clowney in 2011… earned a spot on the  SEC Coaches All-Freshman squad… shared the Joe Morrison Defensive Team MVP award with Zacch Pickens… was a semifinalist for the Shaun Alexander Freshman of the Year Award… led the team with 85 tackles… tied for 15th in the SEC with 6.5 tackles per game… credited with 62 solo stops, second in the SEC and the most among freshmen in the FBS… the last freshman to lead the Gamecocks in tackles was Skai Moore in 2013… became the first member of the freshman class of 2022 to earn a starting assignment when he got the call at Arkansas in Game 2… responded with 11 tackles, the first of his two games with double-figures in stops… posted a career-high 14 tackles, all solo stops, in the loss to No. 1 Georgia… It was the most tackles by a Gamecock since Ernest Jones collected 18 tackles at Ole Miss in 2020… had a tackle for loss versus Missouri… recovered the fumble in the waning minutes of the Clemson game, preserving the win… named to the SEC First-Year Academic Honor Roll… recognized as a co-winner of the University of South Carolina Athletics Male Freshman of the Year for 2022-23, along with baseball standout Ethan Petry.

HIGH SCHOOL
Graduated from Irmo (S.C.) High School in 2022… played all over on defense, but primarily at middle linebacker… earned first-team All-State 4A honors… led the Yellow Jackets to the semifinals as a senior… coached by Aaron Brand… selected for the Shrine Bowl and the Touchstone Energy Cooperatives Bowl… credited with 232 tackles, four sacks and eight forced fumbles as a senior… was an all-state selection as a junior when he collected 100 tackles, eight TFLs, two interceptions, a forced fumble and three sacks in nine games… ranked as the sixth-best player in the Palmetto State, the 58th-best safety in the country and No. 665 overall in the 247Sports Composite… rated the sixth-best player in the state and the 28th-best outside linebacker in the nation by Rivals.

PERSONAL
Born Feb. 7, 2004, Nicholas Ovundah Eze Emmanwori is a psychology major.