Mazeo D. Bennett Jr. (born October 16, 2005) is an

American football American football, referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada and also known as gridiron football, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular American football field, field with goalposts at e ...

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

for the

South Carolina Gamecocks The South Carolina Gamecocks represent the University of South Carolina in the NCAA Division I. The University of South Carolina uses "Gamecocks" as its official nickname and mascot. While the men's teams were traditionally known as the Fight ...

Early life and high school

Bennett attended Greenville Senior High School in

Greenville, South Carolina Greenville ( ; ) is a city in Greenville County, South Carolina, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 70,720 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in South Carolina, sixth-most pop ...

. As a junior in 2022, he hauled in 47 receptions for 857 yards and 14 touchdowns. Coming out of high school, Bennett was rated as a four-star recruit and the 217th overall player in the class of 2024, receiving offers from schools such as Alabama, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee, and Texas A&M. Initially, Bennett committed to play

college football College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur Student athlete, student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition that gridiron football American football in the United States, firs ...

for the

Tennessee Volunteers The Tennessee Volunteers and Lady Volunteers are the 20 male and female varsity intercollegiate athletics programs that represent the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tennessee. The Volunteers compete in Division I of the National Colleg ...

. He later flipped his commitment to play for the in-state

College career

Bennett made his collegiate debut in the 2024 season opener, hauling in two receptions for 18 yards. In week 2, he hauled in his first career touchdown on a 24-yard reception versus

Kentucky Kentucky (, ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north, West Virginia to the ...

. In week 4, Bennett tallied five receptions for 71 yards and a touchdown versus

Akron Akron () is a city in Summit County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the fifth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 190,469 at the 2020 census. The Akron metropolitan area, covering Summit and Portage counties, had ...

. In week 9, he notched two receptions for 19 yards versus

Texas A&M Texas A&M University (Texas A&M, A&M, TA&M, or TAMU) is a public university, public, Land-grant university, land-grant, research university in College Station, Texas, United States. It was founded in 1876 and became the flagship institution of ...

before leaving the game with an injury.

References

External links

South Carolina Gamecocks bio
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennett, Mazeo 2005 births Living people Players of American football from Greenville, South Carolina American football wide receivers Greenville Senior High School (Greenville, South Carolina) alumni South Carolina Gamecocks football players