LaNorris Sellers is back at South Carolina after his breakout 2024 season, hoping to lead the Gamecocks to the College Football Playoff after narrowly missing the 12-team field last year. But even though Sellers wasn’t draft-eligible, the threat of South Carolina losing its starting quarterback still loomed this offseason.
Sellers received multiple name, image, and likeness (NIL) offers from other schools, hoping he would transfer from South Carolina over the offseason, his father, Norris Sellers, told The Athletic. The largest offer Norris received from another was an $8 million deal over two years, according to the elder Sellers.
Ultimately, Sellers remained in South Carolina after his father advised him that he didn’t need the money that other schools were offering.
“He was offered all kinds of crazy numbers,” Norris Sellers told The Athletic. “I told him he could say, I’m gonna stay or I’m gonna go. By my two cents: It was to get into college on a scholarship, play ball, get our degree and go on about our business. This NIL deal came later. We didn’t come here to make money. We came here to get our education, play ball, and with schools calling, we’re not gonna jump ship because they’re offering more than what we’re getting. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
“You’re 19. You don’t need [$8 million]. You’re in a great spot. There were several talks, but it never really crossed his mind [to leave]. It’s a challenge with colleges offering younger guys that kind of money. Who’s gonna say no to $8 million for two years? They’re gonna be swayed if you don’t have the right people in your corner.”
Norris Sellers didn’t share which schools reached out to potentially get his son to transfer from South Carolina. If they were successful, though, Sellers would’ve likely been the top player to enter the transfer portal this offseason. He won SEC Freshman of the Year and was named third-team All-SEC in 2024 after throwing for 2,534 yards, 18 touchdowns and seven interceptions to go with 674 rushing yards and seven rushing touchdowns in 12 games.
As a result of Sellers’ strong play, South Carolina went 9-4 in 2024, going 3-4 against ranked opponents. It made a late surge in the CFP rankings as well, finishing No. 15 in the final ranking before the 12-team field was unveiled.
While Sellers turned down NIL offers from other schools, he did accept a package from South Carolina. The program rewarded him with an NIL deal through its collective, The Garnet Trust, in December. The terms of the deal weren’t disclosed and have yet to be reported.
Sellers will enter the 2025 college football season as one of the most valuable players in the sport, so it’d be easy to imagine that it cost South Carolina a good bit of dough to keep him around. He has the sixth-highest NIL valuation among all college athletes entering the 2025-26 academic year at $3.8 million, per On3.
[Related: Top 25 college athletes with highest NIL valuations]
Still, Sellers insisted that his decision to remain at South Carolina wasn’t related to money.
“I’ve been playing football all of my life for free,” Sellers told The Athletic. “I’ve built relationships here, my family’s here, my brother’s here. There’s no reason for me to go someplace else and start over.”
Sellers, who is entering his redshirt sophomore season, has also been projected to be a potential first-round pick in the 2026 NFL Draft. FOX Sports lead college football analyst Joel Klatt recently ranked Sellers as the eighth-best quarterback in college football entering the 2025 season. He also ranked South Carolina 11th in his post-spring top 25 poll, largely due to Sellers.
Sellers will also enter the year as one of the favorites for the Heisman, holding the seventh-best odds to win the award (+1800) at DraftKings Sportsbook.
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