Signing day is here. How Gamecocks used transfer portal to help rebuild roster
As Shane Beamer settles into his new role as the head football coach at South Carolina, he and his family are still making occasional trips back to Norman, Oklahoma to finish obligations there.
One recent trip had the family in Oklahoma for youth basketball games. Beamer’s children play in the same league as the kids of several Oklahoma football staff members, including Sooners head coach Lincoln Riley.
During those games, Beamer, Riley and other coaches were a little distracted, working their phones and tracking the latest happenings with the NCAA transfer portal.
“I’m at the basketball game Friday night, and staff members at Oklahoma, they’re on the phone texting, just like I am, dealing with the portal,” Beamer said in January. “Somebody on their own team, they’re trying to talk about not going in the portal and why they needed to stay at Oklahoma. They’re getting phone calls from people that are interested in transferring to Oklahoma. So it’s just a constant thing that not only South Carolina’s dealing with, but the whole country’s dealing with.”
The NCAA started the portal in 2018 and intended it to be a “central repository” that made the transfer process in all sports easier and more transparent for players, coaches and colleges’ compliance departments. It’s being used by schools, in large part, to address needs or depth issues created when teams’ current players choose to transfer or leave school early for the NFL.
Every SEC team except Texas A&M has used the portal to add a transfer. A pending NCAA rule change will allow student-athletes a one-time transfer with eligibility to play right away.
For South Carolina and other teams around the country, the portal can be both a blessing and a curse.
The Gamecocks have had 10 players enter the transfer portal since Will Muschamp was fired, including defensive starters Jammie Robinson and Keir Thomas, and quarterback Ryan Hilinski.
South Carolina has also added seven players from the portal, including speedy Georgia Tech wideout Ahmarean Brown and 2020 FBS sack leader Jordan Strachan, who came to USC from Georgia State.
“There are certainly some negatives to it. There’s definitely some positives. I mean, we’ve benefited from it, let’s be real,” Beamer said. “But we’ve also been affected by it on the other end of the spectrum when guys are leaving.”
There were 21 new scholarship spots available to Beamer for South Carolina’s 2021 class. Coming off a 2-8 season that included the coaching change, outgoing transfers and several underclassmen declaring for the NFL, the Gamecocks needed a recruiting approach that added depth now and experienced players who offer a better chance at providing immediate help.
South Carolina also signed two junior college transfers on defense, and could add another Wednesday on the traditional National Signing Day. If that happens, it would give the Gamecocks 10 of a possible 21 additions who joined the roster via the portal or junior college.
“That was one of the good things about having a small signing class in December was the initial scholarships we had left,” said Beamer, whose Gamecocks signed nine prospects in December, including seven from high school. Coaches then took the approach of: “These are our needs, let’s go attack those needs right now. We certainly have.”
While South Carolina’s immediate plan seems to be, in part, to try to fix holes in the roster by using the portal, it remains to be seen if that will pay off on the field — or if it can be a viable long-term strategy with the Gamecocks or other programs.
247Sports director of recruiting Steve Wiltfong has his doubts.
“If you hit on everything you take from the portal, yes you have a chance to flip that roster pretty quickly,” Wiltfong told The State.. “I don’t know if that’s the play. Then you’re not really building it up with recruits. You’re not building it up with your own guys.
“I just know that the foundation of great programs is good recruiting of kids out of high school and developing them in that particular system.”
The approach of prioritizing high school recruiting is more likely the plan moving forward for Beamer, who is known as a tenacious recruiter. He helped build the rosters under coach Steve Spurrier that delivered South Carolina its best seasons in school history.
“Coach Beamer’s going to bring a ton of energy on the recruiting trail,” Wiltfong said. “He’s always been a good recruiter. That’s going to be important to him still as a head coach.”
But with the portal now here and available, and the Gamecocks at the start of a roster and program rebuild, it’s nice to have the portal as an option.
“It’s just so new for everybody. ... I’m constantly on the phone,” Beamer said.
“You want guys to be able to have the opportunity to go places that give them the best opportunity for success on and off the field. We always want to help young men do that. But it’s just a lot of moving parts that all schools are dealing with.”
Transfer portal additions for Gamecocks
Jason Brown — quarterback (St. Francis)
EJ Jenkins — wide receiver (St. Francis)
Ahmarean Brown — wide receiver (Georgia Tech)
David Spaulding — defensive back (Georgia Southern)
Darryl “Debo” Williams — linebacker (Delaware)
Jordan Strachan — defensive lineman (Georgia State)
Keem Green — defensive lineman (Nebraska)
USC’s junior college signees
Marcellas Dial — defensive back (Georgia Military College)
Isaiah Norris — defensive back (Georgia Military College)
This story was originally published February 2, 2021 at 4:14 PM.
