COLUMBIA — Brandon McIlwain had never lived in the Palmetto State before he enrolled at South Carolina. But in many ways, the Gamecocks’ freshman quarterback has been here his entire life.
From summers on the beach at Isle of Palms, to Thanksgiving in Columbia, to countless visits to his grandmother’s home in the Charleston area, the state and the Lowcountry have long called to a player expected to make his college debut Thursday when the Gamecocks visit Vanderbilt. His hometown may be listed as Newtown, Pa., but his family knows where home is.
“The reason he chose the University of South Carolina was, it felt like home.