Jatius Geer: ‘I can’t describe what it means’ to be back home

When former Syracuse defensive end Jatius Geer entered the transfer portal and quickly heard his home-state school was looking to bolster its EDGE position with an instant-impact player, it was somewhat of a no-brainer to take the South Carolina staff up on their offer to return to his home state.

The Belton-Honea Path graduate entered the transfer portal in late April and two weeks later announced his commitment to the Gamecocks.

“It means a lot, man,” Geer told GamecockCentral last week in regard to the chance to return home. “The area that I’m from, South Carolina, Anderson, S.C., very close to Clemson, so a lot of people in my hometown are big Clemson fans. But for me, I’ve always been a big South Carolina guy, so to actually be able to be on a team and have a chance to play and compete, it’s a surreal feeling for me. I can’t describe what it means to me.”

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The 6-foot-6, 243-pounder joined the South Carolina program in time for summer workouts and quickly started going through the process of getting acclimated to his new surroundings.

“It’s been great,” Geer said. “I’ve definitely seen a major transformation in my body and my speed and things like that. So I can just tell that I’m in the right place. Being in this atmosphere, I just know that I’m in the right place, just the level of comfortability that I feel around here.”

A big part of that comfort level? Geer’s developing relationship with position coach Sterling Lucas.

Lucas, a young superstar on the recruiting trail, has been excellent since joining the program following the 2021 season.

“He’s a real guy,” Geer said. “In recruiting, you never know what you’re gonna get. because you know people like to put on a certain face, but he’s the same guy throughout everything. He’s very real, he’s very honest, and those are two characteristics that I need in a coach.”

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An under-recruited prospect out of high school, Geer emerged as a big-time pass-rusher for Syracuse as a redshirt freshman this past season, playing in all 13 games with 12 starts.

Geer finished the year with 33 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries, a forced fumble and a blocked kick.

Geer could help fill a major need for a South Carolina squad that lost both Jordan Burch and Gilber Edmond to the transfer portal.

So far in the open portions of practice, Geer has been working with the second-team at EDGE, meaning he definitely projects to be in the rotation and could work his way into the starting lineup.

“I feel like I just gotta stay consistent,” Geer said. “I feel like they know that I’m a good ball player and that I can play ball, but it’s just, can I be consistent with that? I feel like that’s the biggest question for me.”

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