Penned on the towel hanging from cornerback Jamarcus King’s belt loop are the numbers 07/17. An obvious date, the question was its significance.

On that date in 1984, the national drinking age was upped from 18 to 21. On that date in 2014, a passenger plane was shot down near the Ukraine and Russian borders with all 298 people on board dying. Those events didn't have an impact on King.

On the same day the plane crashed, King lost someone special to him. His mother, Jackie, succumbed to ovarian cancer. Jamarcus was off at Coffeyville Junior College where he had just started classes and football. He went home, and he almost stayed there.

“I was going to stop playing ball at first and be with my sisters back at home,” King said. “They told me to go back to school, go back to junior college, and I had success when I went back.”

Jamarcus now uses football as a way to honor his mother and has given him the drive to be the best player he can be. He views his future in football as a way to provide for his family, and draws upon his mom’s strength in her battle with cancer to push through adversity.

“It’s pushed me to drive and go hard every day,” King said. “I knew my mom would want me to keep going.”

After two years at Coffeyville where he earned JUCO All-American honors, King enrolled at South Carolina in the summer and has thrived. It took him some time to pick up the playbook and understand everything required of him but as he’s become comfortable, he’s gotten better.

Now, he’s been honored by the SEC as Defensive Player of the Week for his performance against Tennessee and also given a cap tip by Pro Football Focus on two occasions this year as a top cornerback performer in the SEC for a given week.

“Jamarcus is instinctive,” head coach Will Muschamp said. “He’s got length, he’s got all the physical attributes we like. He’s been a very coachable guy since he’s been here.”

King has 38 total tackles this season with 36 of them being unassisted. He has three tackles for loss, three interceptions and three more pass breakups. He’s also forced a fumble.

After contemplating giving up football, King is succeeding for the Gamecocks and his mother’s memory is what drives him.