Ahmari Huggins-Bruce no longer with Gamecocks, Shane Beamer confirms

Less than 10 days before South Carolina kicks off its 2024 season against Old Dominion, the Gamecocks have lost a wide receiver.

Ahmari Huggins-Bruce is no longer a member of South Carolina’s football roster, head coach Shane Beamer told reporters after his Thursday night appearance on the “Carolina Calls” radio show.

“He is no longer a member of the team,” Beamer said. “I will have more to say about that. I just have to talk to our own team first.

“I talked to him literally as I was walking into the radio show tonight.”

Huggins-Bruce posted a farewell message to X (Twitter) on Friday morning: “Thank You Gamecock Nation For Everything.”

The status of Huggins-Bruce, who transferred from Louisville to South Carolina in December , has been up in the air for a few days. The Dillon High grad missed practice on Tuesday and Wednesday, a team source told The State, but no one was officially willing to confirm if he was still on the team.

The rumor on Louisville message boards is that Huggins-Bruce is going to rejoin the Cardinals’ program just about eight months after leaving to enter the transfer portal. Social media reports Thursday night indicated the Huggins-Bruce had re-enrolled at Louisville.

The 5-foot-11, 180-pound senior caught 20 passes for over 300 yards last year, helping Louisville to a 10-4 season. He was the Cardinals’ fourth-most productive receiver before deciding to return to The Palmetto State for his final collegiate season.

He joined a South Carolina squad that had lost seven wide receivers either to the transfer portal, NFL Draft or graduation.

As a result, the Gamecocks brought in three pass catchers — Huggins-Bruce, Gage Larvadain (Miami Ohio) and Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina — in the winter and two more — Vandrevius Jacobs (Florida State) and Dalevon Campbell (Nevada) — in the summer.

Via tidbits from watching practice and interviews with coaches, the other four transfers were higher on the depth chart than Huggins-Bruce.