About a week after South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier indicated Gamecocks cornerback Victor Hampton may turn pro early, the junior addressed the issue himself. But he offered little in the way of a lean. Hampton has made three interceptions and a team-high nine pass breakups this season for the Gamecocks, along with 41 tackles. He contributed six tackles, one interception and three pass breakups in Saturday's 70-10 win over Coastal Carolina.
"I'm considering it. Right now, I'm focusing on Gamecock football," Hampton said, according to greenvilleonline.com. "Hopefully I have three or four games here. I'm going to focus on every game here before I worry about going to the next level."
Hampton has had preliminary discussions with defensive coordinator Lorenzo Ward on the possibility.
"We've talked about it some. We haven't gotten into it too deeply, yet," Ward said. "I just wanted to touch base with them. I'm sure we'll have more talks about it."
The tell-tale sign for both Hampton and junior early-entry candidate Kelcy Quarles will be next Saturday during pre-game ceremonies prior to South Carolina's game against rival Clemson. Steve Spurrier has given both players the privilege to be honored along with the senior class on Senior Day, if they have made up their minds to leave for the NFL.
South Carolina could potentially lose three defensive starters to early entry between Quarles, Hampton, and star defensive end Jadeveon Clowney, who projects as a high first-round pick.
*Follow Chase Goodbread on Twitter **@ChaseGoodbread.*
