Nyck Harbor return continues encouraging offseason for Shane Beamer, South Carolina

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COLUMBIA — The news continues to be mostly good for South Carolina football and coach Shane Beamer so far in the offseason for the 2026 season.

Star wide receiver Nyck Harbor announced he was returning for the 2026 season Dec. 25.

Harbor announced his decision on social media.

Harbor posted “Merry Christmas from 8,” which is his number. After some highlights played from his South Carolina career, Harbor said: “You really thought I was going somewhere? Nah. He’s running it back, let’s do it.”

Along with quarterback LaNorris Sellers and star edge rusher Dylan Stewart announcing their returns, Beamer has kept the Gamecocks’ top three players for the 2026 season.

Harbor, a 6-foot-5 junior, led the Gamecocks (4-8) with 618 receiving yards on 30 catches and scored six touchdowns in 2025. He averaged 20.6 yards per catch, with his longest touchdown reception 80 yards against Texas A&M on Nov. 15.

He was a five-star recruit out of high school and increased his number of catches the last three seasons, beginning with 195 yards on 12 catches in 2023 then 26 catches for 376 yards as a sophomore last year.

Harbor was a key member of the wide receiver room and the fastest receiver Beamer had the last three seasons. He was the only player to be ranked No. 1 on Bruce Feldman’s annual “Freaks List” two years in a row and was the first true freshman to take the top spot.

Where Nyck Harbor landed in 2026 NFL mock drafts

Shortly after the season ended, ESPN’s Mel Kiper Jr updated his top-25 Big Board ranking and had Harbor “just missing” the list of 10 wide receivers as of Dec. 1.

The last South Carolina wide receiver to get drafted to the NFL was Xavier Legette, who was selected with the final pick of the first round in 2024 by the Carolina Panthers.

Nyck Harbor stats at South Carolina

Harbor has 68 catches for 1,189 receiving yards across three seasons. He has averaged 17.5 yards per catch and had 10 touchdowns.

He added 23 total rushing yards on four carries in three seasons, averaging 5.8 yards per carry.

Beamer had Harbor do special teams work as well and he ran for 287 total yards on 13 total kickoff returns, the longest was 43 in 2025.

Shane Beamer fills defensive staff opening

Beamer did lose defensive ends/linebackers coach Sterling Lucas to LSU and new coach Lane Kiffin on Dec. 22. Lucas had been on staff for all five of Beamer’s seasons and was considered one of the Gamecocks’ top recruiters, landing Stewart, Harbor and star transfer Kyle Kennard.

South Carolina announced Dec. 23 that Deion Barnes from Penn State would replace Lucas.

Other new hires to Beamer’s staff for 2026 are Kendal Briles as offensive coordinator from TCU, Stan Drayton as running backs coach from Penn State, and Randy Clements as offensive line coach from TCU.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: South Carolina star WR Nyck Harbor will return for 2026 season

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