South Carolina QB Commit Dante Reno Shines At Elite 11

2024 four-star quarterback Dante Reno has been committed to the South Carolina Gamecocks for close to a year, and he played quite well at the Elite 11.

One week ago, I was out in Los Angeles, California, evaluating the next wave of prospective college quarterbacks at the Elite 11 Finals. I had no skin in the game - after taking a role with Volunteer Country in January, the team I cover had no quarterback attending. It allowed me to evaluate the event fully, yet my eyes kept returning to South Carolina quarterback commit Dante Reno.

Reno didn't come into the Elite 11 with a ton of hype or a five-star ranking, and he knew that. All week he remained steadfast that he would control what he would control. In one conversation, he told me that he anticipated Friday being his best day. "I'm good at all this," he said, gesturing to the Pro Day script, where he finished No. 8 in our SI team rankings. "But tomorrow, when we get into game situations in that 7-on-7... that's where I make my mark." It's one thing to say that, but Reno went out on the field and backed it up. He tossed three touchdowns on five drives, one of the highest marks of the event.

His name was notably absent from other outlets' final Elite 11 rankings but among our team of evaluators attending, he was a consensus top-11 quarterback. It shouldn't shock anyone that Reno was prepared and focused - the coaches' kid thing has been beaten into the ground. While all those things are true, those comments overshadow Reno's on-field abilities. He made a sequence of impressive throws on a post-corner combination, the deepest throw in the Pro Day script. Reno's been working on his throwing motion since his junior season, trying to make it more compact while generating enough torque to play SEC football. His early efforts are coming to fruition, as Reno threw with a surprising amount of velocity over the middle of the field.

There's a competitive nature here necessary to survive in the SEC. South Carolina hasn't shied away from creating quarterback competition; they signed four-star LaNorris Sellers in the 2023 class and have offered several 2025 and 2026 talents. Reno must battle for every snap he gets at the University of South Carolina, but he's comfortable with that. Even though he didn't make many people's final lists from the Elite 11, he was comfortable knowing that he performed at a high level and felt that those who appreciate football recognized his game. Reno regularly underscored that he could play well in settings like the Elite 11, but he's at his best when the pads come on. 

The on-field performance was excellent; Reno did everything he was asked and was universally liked by his peers. He took dry reps behind the event, paid attention, and was one of the most detail-orientated signal callers of the prestigious group, which the counselors deemed "the most talented group in Elite 11 history." However, the thing that stood out about Reno was his support system. When everyone else was doing media availabilities, Reno didn't sulk that no South Carolina beats attended or that national guys didn't approach every day. In fact, it's what he wanted. Reno spent time with his family, who made the long trek out to California to support him. There's a long story ahead for Reno and South Carolina's quarterback room, but it's shaping up to be a good one.

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