2014 South Carolina football preview: Carlton Heard

Carlton Heard
Redshirt junior wide receiver
6'0'', 185 lbs.
Athens, Ga.

Recruitment:
No rating

Other offers:
South Carolina nor any other major programs offered Heard out of high school. Heard walked on at FCS Gardner-Webb in 2011. Although he redshirted that year, he earned a scholarship after impressing coaches with his work ethic and talent.

College Career:
In his RS freshman season at Gardner-Webb in 2012, Heard caught 31 passes for 422 yards. He had two 100+-yard games, including a 137-yard performance that earned him Big South Freshman of the Week honors.

Heard transferred to Carolina in January 2013 and walked onto the football team during spring camp. Although he impressed the coaches, he was ineligible to play last fall due to NCAA transfer rules. Heard continued working on his game this past spring, when he caught two passes during the spring game.

2014 Outlook:
While clearly a quality player who likely could have opted for a very productive FCS career instead of transferring to Carolina, Heard remains a walk-on seeking playing time as part of a talented Carolina receiving corps. He's likely not even the best of Carolina's walk-on receivers. Still, his track record suggests he's better than the average walk-on, and it's good to know we have such players available should the injury bug bite.

Trivia:
For those curious to see what he can do, Heard posted his own highlight video of his play during 2012 at Gardner-Webb.

Beat writer's terrible double-meaning lede:
"If you haven't heard of him before, you have now: Carlton Heard is making a name for himself in relief of multiple injured Gamecocks receivers."