Shane Beamer gives first remarks on Prunty, Rhodes transfers from South Carolina
South Carolina football is moving forward after two players left for the transfer portal this past week.
Defensive back Karon Prunty’s departure was confirmed Thursday, and offensive lineman Jordan Rhodes left the roster Friday.
Head coach Shane Beamer said Prunty is battling “personal issues” and needed a change of scenery. He said Prunty had come to the staff to discuss his thoughts and spent a lot of time with Derrick Moore, USC football’s executive director of character and player development.
“At the end of the day, we want him to be happy and where he feels like he can be successful,” Beamer said.
Moving forward, Beamer is optimistic about the depth he still has at Prunty’s position. Georgia Military College transfer Marcellas Dial could be the most impressive defensive player of preseason camp, the coach said. He’s also been pleased with defensive backs Jaylan Foster, David Spaulding, R.J. Roderick, Dominick Hill and Darius Rush.
“We knew that was a position of need on our roster when I got here,” Beamer said. “It wasn’t like Karon Prunty was the only defensive back we brought in. That’s not all we’ve done from the transfer portal and recruiting.”
A transfer from Kansas, Prunty was a more recent addition to bolster USC’s secondary after the Gamecocks lost last year’s stars, Jaycee Horn and Israel Mukuamu, to the NFL. After committing to South Carolina in June, Prunty spent about a month in Columbia before entering the portal once again.
Prunty sent his first tweet since entering the portal on Saturday afternoon.
“Ain’t never been big headed, you can ask anybody who ever talked to me, one of the most humblest person you’ll ever meet, I ain’t never been a bad kid,” he wrote.
Prunty showed a lot of promise in his freshman season at Kansas. He started in all nine of the Jayhawks’ games and held opponents to a 38.5% completion percentage, never allowing a touchdown. He was named a 247Sports Freshman All-American and received an all-Big 12 Honorable mention.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound corner was a 247Sports Composite three-star prospect out of Virginia in the 2020 class. He had originally committed to Liberty before deciding to go to Kansas in December 2019.
Rhodes had been at South Carolina since coming out of high school as a three-star prospect in 2017. He played in 20 games across three seasons as a backup offensive lineman and had not been working with the first-team offense this fall camp.
Beamer has spoken with both Rhodes and Prunty since they elected to leave the program.
“I’ve had great conversations with Jordan Rhodes since he made his decision and Karon Prunty’s family,” Beamer said. “I met with Karon, we had a great talk and he told me why he felt like he needed a fresh start.”
This story was originally published August 15, 2021 at 9:15 AM.
