27.
That's how many games Stephon Gilmore has started at cornerback for the Gamecocks, or rather, every single game since he arrived to South Carolina. He earned Freshman All-America and Freshman All-SEC after his first season in 2009, and followed it up with a first team All-SEC performance in 2010 as a sophomore with a team-leading 79 tackles.
Now preparing for his junior season he is looking to be even better and step into more of a leadership role on the team.
"I try to lead by example," said Gilmore. "I'm not really vocal like that but I try to do all the little things, be a leader off the field and on the field."
Gilmore was the first of three consecutive South Carolina "Mr. Football" award winners (honoring the best high school football player in the state) who signed with the Gamecocks. He was followed by Marcus Lattimore last year and Jadeveon Clowney this year.
The versatile Gilmore has a lot of talents but we wanted to highlight his quickness and agility. Some of the drills he does are specifically geared toward those skills and we shot him going through some of them for his segment in the "It's Great To Be A Gamecock" series (below).
"This offseason I'm just trying to get bigger, faster, and stronger and do everything the weightlifting coaches are trying to do to make us a better team," explained Gilmore.
While working out with the team this summer Gilmore is also taking two classes for his degree in Sport and Entertainment Management, one each in economics and accounting, that will keep him pretty busy.
During the summer players participate in voluntary workouts with the strength and conditioning staff along with going to class and meeting up on their own to continue working on football.
"We try to come out every week, do one on ones, seven on seven, try to compete with each other to get better," said Gilmore. "We usually tweet about it or just tell each other. Someone might say [as trash talk], 'Oh I'm going to catch a pass on you today' and we'll make it a fun thing, more of a competitive thing where we can come together as a team and get better."
So what can fans expect to see from Stephon in 2011?
"They're going to see a lot of excitement and me trying to lock down every receiver I go against. We want to take it to another level next year. Last year was a good year but we got to go farther."
That's how many games Stephon Gilmore has started at cornerback for the Gamecocks, or rather, every single game since he arrived to South Carolina. He earned Freshman All-America and Freshman All-SEC after his first season in 2009, and followed it up with a first team All-SEC performance in 2010 as a sophomore with a team-leading 79 tackles.
Now preparing for his junior season he is looking to be even better and step into more of a leadership role on the team.
"I try to lead by example," said Gilmore. "I'm not really vocal like that but I try to do all the little things, be a leader off the field and on the field."
Gilmore was the first of three consecutive South Carolina "Mr. Football" award winners (honoring the best high school football player in the state) who signed with the Gamecocks. He was followed by Marcus Lattimore last year and Jadeveon Clowney this year.
The versatile Gilmore has a lot of talents but we wanted to highlight his quickness and agility. Some of the drills he does are specifically geared toward those skills and we shot him going through some of them for his segment in the "It's Great To Be A Gamecock" series (below).
"This offseason I'm just trying to get bigger, faster, and stronger and do everything the weightlifting coaches are trying to do to make us a better team," explained Gilmore.
While working out with the team this summer Gilmore is also taking two classes for his degree in Sport and Entertainment Management, one each in economics and accounting, that will keep him pretty busy.
During the summer players participate in voluntary workouts with the strength and conditioning staff along with going to class and meeting up on their own to continue working on football.
"We try to come out every week, do one on ones, seven on seven, try to compete with each other to get better," said Gilmore. "We usually tweet about it or just tell each other. Someone might say [as trash talk], 'Oh I'm going to catch a pass on you today' and we'll make it a fun thing, more of a competitive thing where we can come together as a team and get better."
So what can fans expect to see from Stephon in 2011?
"They're going to see a lot of excitement and me trying to lock down every receiver I go against. We want to take it to another level next year. Last year was a good year but we got to go farther."
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