Meet Mason Love, 5-star Gamecock and next great fit for Beamer Ball at South Carolina

Mason Love isn’t like other kickers.

He’s never played soccer, and he didn’t start his football career with aspirations of playing a skill position. Sure, he dabbled as a wide receiver, corner and quarterback as a young child, but none of those ventures lasted very long. His affinity for kicking was born on the elementary school playground and has never wavered.

Love was a kickball savant. His older brother Dylan — one year Mason’s senior — joined a local youth football league when Mason was in fifth grade. Dylan’s coach heard Mason could kick well and urged the then-fifth grader to come out for the sixth-grade team, which he could start on if the coach liked what he saw.

So Mason traded his rubber ball for a leather one and never looked back.

Now Mason is the No. 1 class of 2024 punter prospect in the nation, according to Kohl’s rankings. He will sign with Gamecocks football Wednesday afternoon at Park Hill South High School in Riverside, Missouri. The 6-foot, 170-pound five-star punter/kicker will graduate this month and enroll early at South Carolina in January.

“With them having the No. 1 special teams in the country and the proven statistics and film and development, that’s really good to see as a specialist,” Mason said. “And just to see how much they care about special teams, not just have it get pushed aside.”

Football is a family affair for the Loves. Dad Josh, 6-foot-3, played tight end in high school and rugby in college. Dylan, now an engineering student at Missouri, played lots of positions on that sixth-grade team (quarterback, running back, receiver and linebacker) and was on the varsity kickoff team with Mason in high school. Younger brother Brendan, a freshman, was Mason’s holder for kicks this season. The only Loves without any on-field experience are mom Marissa and youngest brother Austin, who’s in sixth grade.

Some of Mason’s favorite football memories involve Dylan and Brendan.

When lined up next to each other at the start of games, Dylan always offered a sentence or two of encouragement for Mason before kickoff. The Mason-and-Brendan kicker-holder relationship strengthened their bond as they spent so much time practicing together. During down moments they choreographed celebratory handshakes for successful field goals and PATs.

“Just seeing it go through the uprights and being able to celebrate with him was always a fond memory,” Mason said.

Love announced his commitment to South Carolina in June, one day after he got home from his official visit. Back then he appeared to be Kai Kroeger’s heir apparent. Then starting kicker Mitch Jeter (now at Notre Dame) entered the transfer portal.

The move surprised Mason but reaffirmed his decision to enroll early at USC — and it’s more time to show the coaching staff he could step into Jeter’s role. Mason said head coach Shane Beamer and special teams coordinator Pete Lembo seemed as though they didn’t expect Jeter to leave.

“We talked about how it’s kind of a surprise and talked about how it could be a good opportunity to compete for the spot,” Mason said. “And if it all goes well, (I) may see some playing time. My mentality has been go in and keep my head down and just work and see how it all plays out. But I think it’ll be a good opportunity for me.”

Mason set eight new school records during his senior season for kicking and punting:

• Longest field goal: 57 yards

• Successful PATs kicked in a career: 98

• Field goals made in a season (16) and game (four)

• Points in a career (167) and game (16)

• Touchback percentage: 93%

• Longest kickoff: 76 yards

• Highest career punt average: 42.15 yards

• Longest punt from the line of scrimmage: 75 yards

He tries to emulate Kansas City Chiefs specialists Tommy Townsend and Harrison Butker in punting and kicking. Mason also said he looks up to Washington Commanders punter Tress Way and Baltimore Ravens kicker Justin Tucker.

Mason said his greatest strengths are his strong leg and flexibility. He also takes pride in recovery, which could be what fuels his desire to major in exercise science or sports medicine — “Something on the medical side of sports and exercise,” Mason said.

He’s looking forward to joining the tight-knit group of experienced SEC specialists in January and learning all he can before the 2024 season starts. He’s worked “a little bit” on his golf game in preparation for the unit’s routine outings at Par Tee Golf Center in West Columbia. During the summer the specialists go out about twice a week.

“It’s all genuine love from all the coaches and staff and it’s not just something that they put on for a visit just to get a recruit. We talked about how they’ll have each other’s back. And it’s not like, ‘Oh, you did good here, but once you don’t do as well we’re not gonna be there for you.’ They all have each other’s backs and it’s definitely something that is good to hear and really promising.

“Just no matter what, they’ll be there.’