South Carolina defensive back Nick Emmanwori was drafted in the second round of the NFL Draft on Friday. The Seattle Seahawks selected Emmanwori with the 35th overall pick of the draft.Emmanwori had a standout 2024 season. He earned first-team All-America honors according to AP, Sporting News, Reese’s Senior Bowl and College FB Nation, and was a second-team selection by FAA, SI.com, CBS Sports and Phil Steele this season. He was a unanimous first-team All-SEC selection and one of three players named the Joe Morrison MVP for defense. He was a finalist for the 2024 Blanchard-Rogers Trophy, a semifinalist for the Jim Thorpe Award and a quarterfinalist for the Lott IMPACT Trophy.College Football Nation selected him as its Safety of the Year, SEC Player of the Year, SEC Defensive Player of the Year and SEC Safety of the Year. Emmanwori also led the team with 88 tackles with 57 solo stops and 3.0 tackles for loss. He had four interceptions, tied for fourth in the SEC this season. He also ranked 12th in the SEC with 6.77 tackles per game.Emmanwori was also one of three players in the country to return two interceptions for touchdowns and ranked eighth in the nation with 107 interception return yards. He was named the SEC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance at Kentucky (seven tackles and a 24-yard interception return for a TD, and was the co-Defensive Player of the Week following the Oklahoma contest (11 tackles, 2 INT, including a 65-yard pick-six) and led the Gamecocks in tackles six times – Kentucky (7), LSU (9), Oklahoma (11), Vanderbilt (8), Missouri (11) and Wofford (5)Gamecocks defensive tackle T.J. Sanders was selected by the Buffalo Bills with the ninth pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday. He was the 41st player selected overall.Sanders, a 6-3 5/8, 305-pounder from Marion, S.C., spent four seasons in the Carolina program. He appeared in 39 games with 16 career starts. He logged 109 tackles with 17.5 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks.In 2024, Sanders appeared in all 13 games making nine starts. College Football Nation tabbed him as a first-team All-SEC performer and a third-team All-American while selecting him as the SEC’s Interior Defender of the Year. He was named to the second-team All-SEC squad by the AP and Phil Steele. He finished fifth on the squad and led the defensive lineman with 50 tackles including 7.0 tackles for loss and 4.0 sacks. He was also credited with six quarterback hurries and one pass breakup.Sanders, who graduated in December with a degree in criminology and criminal justice, becomes the second Gamecock selected in the 2025 NFL Draft, joining Nick Emmanwori, who was taken earlier in the second round by Seattle.Sanders is the first Gamecock taken by Buffalo since Stephon Gilmore went to the Bills in the first round of the 2012 draft.South Carolina linebacker Demetrius Knight Jr. was selected by the Cincinnati Bengals with the 17th pick in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft on Friday. He was 49th player taken overall.Knight Jr., a 6-1 3/4, 236-pounder from Locust Grove, Ga., spent his final season with the Gamecocks after four years at Georgia Tech and one at Charlotte. He appeared in 61 games overall with 22 starts while collecting 229 career tackles. He earned first-team all-conference honors in 2023 in his lone season with the 49ers.In 2024, Knight Jr. quickly established himself as a team leader and was named a Rex Enright Team Captain, the Most Outstanding Senior and one of three players named the Joe Morrison MVP for the defense. He also was recognized by the coaches as one of three players for the Strength and Conditioning Award and shared the Nutrition Award with Raheim Sanders.In his lone season with the Garnet & Black, Knight Jr. was second on the team with 82 tackles including 57 solo stops. He logged 8.0 tackles for loss and 2.0 sacks and added three forced fumbles and an interception. He reached double-figures in tackles on three occasions, logging a season-best 11 stops in back-to-back games against Oklahoma and Texas A&M and another 10 in the win at Clemson. Knight Jr. sealed the 17-14 win in the regular-season finale over Clemson with an interception on the Tigers’ final drive.Knight Jr., who earned a degree in literature, media and communications from Georgia Tech, becomes the third Gamecock selected in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, joining Nick Emmanwori (Seattle) and T.J. Sanders (Buffalo). He is the first Gamecock linebacker taken in the draft since Ernest Jones in 2021 and the first Gamecock selected by Cincinnati since T.J. Johnson was taken by the Bengals in the seventh round of the 2013 draft.