Lexington County has produced some of the state’s most talented college prospects in recent years. 

Football, basketball, softball and baseball in particular have many athletes from the county making contributions to their teams regularly. Whether it was their first season or their fourth, players from Lexington County showed up and made plays in 2023. 

Here are a few of the college athletes from Lexington County who excelled at their sport last year.

Football 

On the gridiron, Irmo product Nick Emmanwori suited up for his second season for the nearby South Carolina Gamecocks. 

The defensive back played in 11 games for the Gamecocks during the 2023 season, starting all 11. Emmanwori was a consistent contributor for the defensive unit, ranking fourth on the team in tackles with 71, second in pass breakups with eight and added a pair of interceptions. 

Emmanwori had 10 tackle games against Georgia and Jacksonville State in 2023. His interceptions came when the Gamecocks needed them most. In back-to-back weeks, Emmanwori secured interceptions while South Carolina fought for its postseason life. 

Emmanwori is set to return to the Gamecocks for his junior season and recently announced he will change his jersey number from 21 to seven. 

Another athlete who saw success on the football field in 2023 was Former White Knoll and Miami (Ohio) quarterback Aveon Smith.

Smith was not expected to have much impact on the RedHawks this season. He started the year as the backup to Brett Gabbert, the younger brother of NFL journeyman Blane Gabbert.

A leg injury in week eight sidelined Gabbert for the remainder of the season, and Smith stepped into the starting role the rest of the way. He passed attempts for 638 yards, with two touchdowns in 10 appearances. 

Smith excels beyond the passing game though and uses his legs to add to his throwing contributions. He carried the ball 75 times for 280 yards, with one touchdown. 

Most impressively, after taking on the starting role Smith led the RedHawks to five straight victories and a MAC championship title. The RedHawks faced Toledo in the title game, and Smith threw for 109 yards and ran for another 99 as his team went on to win 23-14.

 Following the championship game, Smith jumped into the transfer portal where he eventually committed to play for Alabama A&M. 

Softball

A trio of softball stars made substantial impacts for their squads in 2023. 

Former Lexington softball star Sarah Gordon made her arrival to the NCAA known by putting together an impressive freshman season at Louisville. 

Gordon started every game for the Cardinals, primarily as the team’s catcher. She had great success as a hitter, finishing the season with a .379 batting average, 66 hits, 41 runs and 49 RBIs. She recorded a team-high 12 doubles and finished third on the team with 12 home runs. 

Her accomplishments caught many peoples’ attention and earned her D1Softball Freshman All-American, the Softball America All-American Third Team, NFCA All-Southeast Region Second Team, ACC All-Freshman Team and All-ACC First Team honors. She was also named the ACC Freshman Player of the Year.

Following the team’s loss in the NCAA regional round, Gordon entered the transfer portal. Next season she will suit up for the Georgia Bulldogs.

Charlotte’s Lexi Winters is a former White Knoll graduate who also showed she was built for college competition in her freshman year. 

Winters was selected to the Conference USA All-Freshman team after starting for the 49ers in all 50 of her appearances. She hit six home runs and had 20 RBIs.

 Her potential shined when she set a program single-game record for RBIs with 7 in a contest against Middle Tennessee on April 6. In that same game, she became the first 49er to hit three home runs in a game since 2014. 

Unlike the other two athletes, Oregon pitcher and former Dutch Fork Silver Fox Morgan Scott is a seasoned collegiate athlete. 2023 was her senior year after spending three seasons with UNC-Greensboro. 

The 2022 Southern Conference Pitcher of the Year made a smooth transition to Pac-12 competition, putting together a 13-7 win-loss record. 

Scott led the Pac-12 and was sixth in the nation with 7 saves. She struck out 90 batters and captured complete game wins against five different Pac-12 opponents. 

In the NCAA regional, Scott pitched a complete game against Arkansas. She gave up eight and four runs as her team went on to win 10-4. 

The Ducks’ run came to a halt against Oklahoma State in the Super Regional, but Scott’s career is not done as she is returning to Oregon in 2024 for a fifth year.  

Baseball

Two former Lexington County baseball products were drafted to the MLB after finishing compelling campaigns in their final collegiate year. 

Former Chapin baseball players Cade Austin and William Privette turned heads during the 2023 college baseball season and were rewarded with the opportunity to take the next steps at becoming a major league player. 

Privette completed his junior season at the College of Charleston in 2023. 

He left his mark on the program, finishing his career second all-time in earned run average, third all-time in WHIP, third all-time in strikeouts per nine innings, fourth all-time in saves and ninth all-time in relief appearances. He holds the program and Coastal Athletic Conference single-season record in ERA with 0.91 in 2022. 

2023 was a strong year for Privette, who made 24 appearances out of the bullpen. He led the CAA in saves with 10 and strikeouts per nine innings with 13.71. He also struck out 64 batters, while allowing only 26 hits and 11 earned runs over 42 innings.

Privette’s play eventually led to the Texas Rangers selecting him in the 13th round of the 2023 MLB Draft. His selection makes him the sixth Cougar to be drafted under coach Chad Holbrook.

Austin completed his third season as a member of the Gamecock baseball team and was eventually picked by the New York Yankees in the 19th round of the draft. 

As a redshirt sophomore, Austin made 23 appearances and a start for the Gamecocks in 2023. He struck out 38 batters in 29.2 innings pitched and had a five-strikeout game in three innings against Charlotte. 

Austin stepped up for the Gamecocks in some crucial moments, including during the team’s SEC tournament game against Georgia where he earned a save after striking out three Bulldogs in 2.1 innings.

Basketball

On the court, these three athletes are proving to be difference-makers for their teams. 

Former Gray Collegiate star Tommy Bruner is lighting up the scoreboard for Denver, leading all of Division One in scoring this season with 25 points per game. 

Bruner is in his fifth collegiate season and is having his best one. He has had five 30-point games so far this season, leading his team to a 12-7 record. 

At the end of the 2022-23 season, Bruner was named to the Summit League All-Newcomer Team and the Honorable Mention All-Summit League team after averaging 16 points per game that season. 

Another former Gray Collegiate star has found success on the court. In just his first year, Avante Parker has carved out a decent role at Georgia Southern.

The freshman is averaging six points and five rebounds per game so far in 18 games of action. Parker made his first start in the team’s first game against Georgia Tech and has started 10 more since. 

In a Nov. 14 game against Jacksonville, Parker recorded his first double-digit scoring performance, earning 10 points on 3-4 shooting and 4-6 from the charity stripe. 

Parker had another double-digit outing on Dec. 9 against North Florida, and most recently an 11-point performance against Coastal Carolina on Jan. 18. With years of eligibility left there is plenty of time for Parker to add more. 

Former Irmo product Winston Hill returned to the court in 2023 after having season-ending surgery last year at Presbyterian. 

Hill now plays for The Citadel. The graduate forward found a nice role with the team, averaging 10 points and seven rebounds in 25 minutes.

Hill may not have been The Citadel’s top-scoring option, but he was a consistent piece that was finding form after an injury.  Unfortunately, Hill suffered another injury that likely ended his 2023-24 season on Jan. 3 against Western Carolina.