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South Carolina QB enters the NCAA transfer portal
By Keith Farner
Published:
South Carolina will likely have one less quarterback in the competition to start next season with the news from multiple outlets that Ryan Hilinski has entered the transfer portal.
Hilinski appears to be looking for another chance to start after he couldn’t beat out Collin Hill or Luke Doty in 2020 to start for the Gamecocks. He appeared in all but one game in 2019 after he relieved Jake Bentley following his foot injury in the season opener. The Gamecocks recently signed Colten Gauthier, a quarterback out of Dacula, Georgia (Hebron Christian), and have a commitment from 5-star Gunner Stockton of Tiger, Georgia (Rabun County) in the Class of 2022.
Hilinski appeared to be behind the learning curve of Hill, who came with new offensive coordinator Mike Bobo from Colorado State and was more familiar with the playbook. Now that Bobo is staying on new coach Shane Beamer’s staff, Hilinski appears to be looking for a new opportunity. Hilinski only appeared in two games in 2020.
Hilinksi completed 58 percent of his passes in 2019 with 11 touchdowns and five interceptions. He had offseason knee surgery, and Bobo coached him to improve his footwork entering the 2020 season. But Hilinski didn’t win the preseason QB competition this year, and couldn’t overtake Hill when the coaching staff re-opened the job midseason. Then after coach Will Muschamp was fired, Bobo chose to start Doty down the stretch.
Hilinski is from Orange, California and had a reported 25 offers coming out of high school as a 4-star recruit. He was the No. 2 pro-style QB in the Class of 2019, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Breaking: USC QB Ryan Hilinski has entered the transfer portal. @wachfox pic.twitter.com/XpFmcd0SD2
— Mike Uva (@Mike_Uva) December 30, 2020
A former newspaper veteran, Keith Farner is a news manager for Saturday Down South.
