A recruiting inefficiency to watch with South Carolina’s current roster situation
Darryle Ware’s presence on the South Carolina football roster represents an opportunity of sorts.
He turned down a scholarship offer from Georgia Tech to join the Gamecocks. He’s a player the staff seemed to like, but not quite enough to pull the trigger on an official offer. But if he works out and develops into a Power 5-quality linebacker, he could go on scholarship later on.
And this sort of approach could solve a bit of a bind the South Carolina roster is in at the moment
In recent years, the NCAA has made efforts to cap the size of a single recruiting class at 25. This is to discourage oversigning and its possible pitfalls, including not honoring some of those initial scholarships or forcing attrition from the current roster. To a degree it has worked in Columbia, as there are probably a few player on the roster who might not be if there was a greater level of flexibility.
And it’s also meant things are a little tight with a few recent grad transfers (including a long snapper and running back last year) and some traditional transfers that didn’t last more than three semesters (Jamel Cook, Josh Belk).
This offseason alone, South Carolina had to borrow four scholarships against the 2021 class to get to 85 at the start of preseason camp. Three of those players walked on with the expectation of going on scholarship as camp started and a fourth joined the roster in August.
At one point, it appeared Colorado State tight end Trey McBride could fill a spot as he entered the transfer market and a scholarship came open with Tyquan Johnson leaving the roster. But McBride chose to return to the Rams. That means USC was back down to 84 scholarships, but any addition would require borrowing another spot against the 2021 class.
The ability to “borrow ahead” exists because of some overlapping NCAA arrangements, but within a few years that will close. Teams will then have to be more choosy about scholarship guys they take, with more of an eye toward longevity. The NCAA giving student-athletes an extra year of eligibility because of the COVID-19 pandemic might help, but it’s likely at best a short-term fix.
And this is where guys like Ware come in.
In 2018, the NCAA changed rules that required a walk-on to be on campus for two years before getting a scholarship and it not take one of those 25 “initial counter” spots. It was reduced to one academic year, meaning a guy like Ware can go on scholarship next summer and not cost the team one of those spots.
And as these things get tighter, players who could pay their own way for a year could become an under-the-radar way to boost scholarship numbers.
In basketball, 4-for-5 arrangements are not uncommon, when a full roster adds a walk-on with the promise of a scholarship in Year 2. It might be a case of a player who comes from means, has the grades for good scholarships or lands funds some other way. (Former Gamecock Ty’Son Williams got help from the GI Bill related to his mother’s military service.)
But any of those players could help teams as rosters continue to end up in tight spots.
Had one of the four players who joined the roster in August been in that position, the Gamecocks would have more flexibility with a player such as McBride or anyone else they might want to add. A smaller senior class might keep the numbers in 2021 down anyway, but this avenue might be one to watch going forward.
