South Carolina’s 2026 football season opener is 94 days away, with the Gamecocks set to host Kent State at Williams-Brice Stadium on September 5 at 12:45 p.m. The countdown provides a chance to look back at a former Gamecock who wore No. 94 and built a life of purpose long after his playing days ended.
A Palmetto State Product Who Came Up the Hard Way
Preston Thorne arrived in Columbia from Summerville High School as part of Lou Holtz’s program, joining a team that had just endured a winless season. A defensive tackle by trade, Thorne carved out a rotational role during the 2000 and 2001 seasons and shared the defensive line room with several players who would go on to NFL careers, including Cecil Caldwell, Cleveland Pinkney, Shaun Smith, Darrell Shropshire, and Langston Moore — with whom he would forge a friendship that extended well beyond football.
His path was not without adversity. A serious knee injury wiped out his junior season entirely, but Thorne responded by returning as a starter and earning the team captaincy in his redshirt senior year in 2004. That final season saw him record 14 tackles and force a fumble. He also received the Brad Davis Community Service Post-Graduate Award, a recognition that reflected values he had been building throughout his time in Columbia. Thorne earned Academic All-SEC honors twice during his career, demonstrating a dedication to the classroom that proved to be the foundation for everything that followed.
From the Field to the Classroom
After exhausting his eligibility, Thorne did not pursue a professional football career. Instead, he joined an AmeriCorps crew and spent a year contributing to disaster relief efforts in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. From there, he channeled his University of South Carolina history degrees into a teaching career, spending roughly a decade coaching and instructing in the state.
Thorne also partnered with his former teammate Langston Moore and illustrator Kev Roche to co-author a series of children’s books — Just a Chicken, Just a Chicken Little, and Usta Wuz a Rooster — taking those works across the Southeast to promote childhood literacy and encourage parents to read alongside their children. The message behind the project ties directly to a philosophy Thorne has championed publicly. “If you have these three skills, you can do anything,” he has said of reading, writing, and speaking — a motto he summarizes as urging young people to “go pro in reading, writing, and speaking.”
His work with Moore also extended into the health space. The two helped launch EAT2WIN, a camp program Thorne describes as being “devoted to eliminating child obesity nationwide by exposing young people to healthy eating and physical fitness.”
Still Connected to the Garnet and Black
Thorne has remained a visible presence within the South Carolina community. Gamecock fans can hear him regularly on 107.5 The Game’s The Early Game program, and he has also returned to his alma mater in the role of student success coach and outreach coordinator — a fitting full-circle moment for someone who spent his post-football years investing in the next generation.
Bottom Line
Preston Thorne’s story is the kind that rarely makes headlines during the season but deserves recognition during the offseason. He wore No. 94 for the Gamecocks, overcame injury to become a team captain, and spent the decades that followed building something far more lasting than any stat line. As South Carolina’s 2026 season approaches, Thorne stands as a reminder that the program has produced more than football players — it has produced people who go out and make their communities better.
