Yessir! Ortre Smith is ready to go! This is big news for the South Carolina receiving corps. Having Ortre healthy for the start of the 2019 football season is going to be a huge boost for the offense.
Ortre came to Carolina as a four star recruit and the number one recruit out of the state of South Carolina. In his freshman year he was expected to play behind Deebo Samuel. Due to Deebo’s injury, Ortre started in ten games during the 2017 season. To everyone’s delight, Ortre exceeded expectations in his freshman campaign. In 2018 Ortre suffered knee pain that was eventually attributed to a genetic problem. He underwent surgery after only participating in games against Costal Carolina and Georgia and was out for the remainder of the season. Everyone expected a big comeback season from Ortre in 2019 barring being cleared by the medical staff. Thank goodness he is cleared. He will now be able to participate in fall camp and get the reps he needs to be dialed in when the Gamecocks take on North Carolina in the first game of the season.
Ortre Thrilled to be Cleared Heading into 2019 Football Season
When Ortre found out that his knee would require surgery he was crushed. He was lookin forward o the rest of the season and wanted to play more than anything. You better believe that Ortre was thrilled to hear from the training staff that he was completely cleared to participate in practices and play in games. This means that Ortre is cleared for full contact. No more sitting in the apartment watching Ninja stream on twitch; it is go time for ‘Tre. It will be interesting to see if Muschamp allows Ortre to practice with contact during fall camp. He may put Ortre in a yellow jersey just to air on the side of caution. Yellow jerseys in practice mean no contact. This usually translates to mild contact because players have trouble slowing reacting and holding off on players in the the yellow jerseys.
Ortre was definitely one of our best receivers in the spring before the 2018 season. I expect Ortre to have a big year in 2019. With Ortre, Shi, and Bryan on the field our receivers should be able to cause some problems in the secondaries of opposing teams. If Jake can put it together for a full season our offense is going to be clicking.
GO COCKS!