Columbia, SC (WLTX) - South Carolina Gamecocks Jake Bentley has received the SEC's Sportsmanship Awards.
Bentley, a rising junior, was recognized for the compassion he showed a fellow but opposing quarterback in a game at Tennessee.
You may recall, it was tight game in Knoxville when the Gamecocks took a 15-9 lead with 1:13 left to play.
Tennessee's freshman quarterback Jarrett Guarantano led the volunteers to first and goal at the two-yard line with nine seconds to play, but threw three incomplete passes to end the game. As the gamecocks celebrated, Guarantano sat dejectedly near the sideline.
Bentley jogged toward him, and gave him encouragement.
“Jake is a great ambassador for the team and the Athletics Department, consistently representing South Carolina at events and in the media with poise, personality and grace in victory and defeat,” said South Carolina Athletics Director Ray Tanner. “After each game, he makes it a point to seek out the other team’s quarterback, to share specific conversation among his counterparts around the SEC as they share a brotherhood at one of the most scrutinized positions on the field.”
He was selected for the honor by a vote of the SEC's 14 directors of athletics.
The USC's women's softball team was honored along with all other league softball teams for their support of Mississippi State's Alex Wilcox, who's undergoing treatment for Ovarian cancer.