Dakereon Joyner spent six years at South Carolina. His impact extends beyond football

Steve LaPrad hosted football clinics for middle-schoolers in the North Charleston area for more than 20 years. The longtime high school coach said he remembers watching hundreds of wide-eyed boys learn what it takes to play varsity high school football.

His experience with a seventh-grade basketball player is especially memorable.

That seventh-grader pushed a 100-pound “dummy” across the field to a designated finish line. LaPrad said most kids barely made it there, and if they did, they sprawled out on the ground in exhaustion.

“He used every ounce of strength he had to get that dummy across the finish line,” said LaPrad, the former Fort Dorchester High coach. “Most kids were falling down when they finished or whatever. But I saw him put his hands on knees. He took one deep breath, and then he sprinted to get the next position. And I went, ‘Oh man, that one’s different.’ ”

That seventh-grader was Dakereon Joyner. And that was LaPrad’s first impression of the young athlete who’d go on to be a dominant high school quarterback and the state’s Mr. Football for 2017 — and become one of the most popular USC Gamecocks of the last decade and a face of the name, image and likeness era.

After spending six years in Columbia and playing three different positions, Joyner’s collegiate career could end with him standing on the sideline Saturday of his final Palmetto Bowl. A lower body injury has left him questionable to play against Clemson. He’ll be one of 21 honored for Senior Day, but he’d like to play in the game.

“Even if it’s just a few snaps,” Joyner told The State on Monday afternoon. “I want to get out there on Saturday.”

He’s watched some of the program’s highest highs, including defeating No. 3 Georgia in Athens in 2019 followed by a 2-8 season in 2020. Now, that former star from North Charleston is set to leave the South Carolina program better than he found it after an up-and-down six-year career.

Staying despite the changes

Joyner dreamed of Shane Beamer as USC’s head coach in 2020.

He doesn’t remember much about the dream. But he does remember waking up and wanting Beamer to lead the Gamecocks.

“It was before he was even a candidate for a job,” Joyner said. “So then I knew whenever he got hired for the job that I could trust him.”

After Will Muschamp (2016-20) was fired, Joyner wasn’t sure who would take over the program. He didn’t know what his next steps would be either. At the time Joyner had two years of eligibility left, as it was before the NCAA gave student-athletes an additional year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

He considered the transfer portal in 2019 and in 2020, but didn’t know what to expect. He already made a position change to wide receiver and back to quarterback his redshirt freshman year. He knew regardless of what he did next, he wasn’t going to be a quarterback like he’d hoped.

“It was definitely like, reality hit me in the face,” Joyner said. “I was like, ‘Damn, OK.’ I had to reshape myself out there, and reshape my focus.”

Beamer joining South Carolina reignited Joyner’s spark. He felt comfortable around the new head coach from Day 1. Did it start on a subconscious level because of that dream? Possibly. But any chance of him heading to the portal melted away.

Joyner is indescribable, LaPrad said. But if he had to pick one word it’d be “selflessness.” There’s never been anything Joyner wouldn’t do to help South Carolina.

He shocked fans in 2021 at the Duke’s Mayo Bowl, winning MVP as the surprise starting quarterback and launching his NIL journey. He’s also played wide receiver and spent time on special teams during his fifth year. It wasn’t what Joyner thought he’d be doing in college, but he did as Beamer needed him to.

“He makes our program better,” Beamer said, “and has since the time he decided to come to the University of South Carolina.”

That included switching to running back this past summer.

Beamer needed to bring some depth to the running backs room heading into the 2023 season, with Juju McDowell the only true back with SEC experience on the roster. As Mario Anderson navigated his transition from Division II football, Beamer turned to Joyner.

“The transition I made this year was to help the team,” Joyner said. “I put the team before me, and rest is history.”

It’s still a game he loves. Joyner spent five of his six years at South Carolina playing three different positions, finding ways to contribute despite minimal opportunities to be a quarterback. What mattered more was being on the field, having fun.

Joyner never wanted to forget that.

Off-the-field service

In the last 10 days, Joyner hosted two charity events: a food drive and a distribution day.

During the distribution day on Monday, Joyner handed out 100 Thanksgiving turkeys. There were stacks of boxes filled with canned goods, cornbread mix and other sides. Joyner posted about the two events weeks in advance on social media, wanting to help families who couldn’t afford to purchase a Thanksgiving meal.

There were 818 pounds of food donated, and the turkeys were gone 30 minutes into the Thanksgiving drive.

The distribution day was the first Thanksgiving meal event Joyner has done, but his dedication to community service isn’t new.

“He’s just always been a people-focused person,” said Joyner’s mother, Thetka McDaniel. “Everything was always about everyone else.”

Joyner has wanted to help his siblings, his mom, his teammates and his community in any way he could, something McDaniel praised Joyner for doing as long as she can remember. He’s started youth camps, hosted giving days and other distribution events through Columbia that have taken off over the last two years.

“He just blesses everyone with his presence,” Anderson said. “I really look at him as a brother and as family.”

Last year, McDaniel was diagnosed with breast cancer. She went to every football game Joyner had played since middle school, and while she was fighting the disease, McDaniel did her best to continue showing up for her son.

Joyner created fundraisers in honor of his mom to raise awareness for breast cancer and wrote her a letter when he donated the money.

“I’m just very appreciative of what he’s done and continues to do for me,” McDaniel said. “I tell people all the time, God used me as a vessel to bring him here for everyone else.”

Joyner started “DK for Charity” this season. Every touchdown he’s scored, he’s donated money to different local and national charities. He’s donated money toward Susan G. Komen foundation, the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention and Bridges of Hope in South Carolina.

It traces back to his platform, and his desire to help someone. McDaniel has seen people wear Joyner’s T-shirts and watches the influx of support he gets after every donation. She feels nothing but pride.

Life after South Carolina

When Joyner announced he was using his final year of eligibility, he dedicated the season to his now 9-month-old daughter, Kahlani. “She’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he’s said many times.

He’s balanced becoming a girl dad throughout this season, and is slowly beginning to focus on what’s beyond South Carolina football. Still, the sight of his child is enough to help him through every loss, bad practice — and even the good days, too.

Joyner got his undergraduate degree in 2021 and has slowly been working toward a master’s. He put it on pause after Kahlani’s birth but still has aspirations to finish the degree.

“When it’s all said and done, I want to go to law school,” Joyner said. “Maybe be a sports attorney. It’s a lot of work, going to law school, but I want something to fall back on.”

He still has aspirations to play at a pro level, and will spend the next six months preparing for the Gamecocks’ NFL Pro Day and the draft. Joyner is preparing to tackle the mental and physical aspects of preparing for the draft, whether it be on his own or through a bowl.

LaPrad and McDaniel have no worries about Joyner’s ability to succeed at the next level — whatever that level may be: the NFL, XFL or academia.

Joyner’s final moments inside Williams-Brice Stadium on Saturday will be emotional, and the thought of hearing “Sandstorm” one more time tugged at his heartstrings.

“It kind of makes me emotional thinking about it,” Joyner said. “It’s really almost all over. I don’t know man. But I ain’t ready for it.”

McDaniel is stopped all the time by Gamecocks fans, with people telling her how big of an impact Joyner has made on South Carolina. It’s overwhelming at times, but she’s elated the program has given her son a platform.

She’ll stand arm-in-arm with Joyner on Saturday during USC’s Senior Day ceremony, along with his siblings and Kahlani. LaPrad usually tries to avoid the mayhem of the Palmetto Bowl, he said, but plans to watch the game to celebrate Joyner’s accomplishments.

If Joyner tells LaPrad to come, the former high school coach will make the trek to watch his former player bid farewell.

“Whether it’s on the field, off the field, whatever. He will be a success,” LaPrad said. “I’ve coached thousands of people over my lifetime, and I’ve never had anyone like Dakereon.”