South Carolina’s signing day marks celebration of transfer portal offensive additions
Shane Beamer was grinning as he stepped to the lectern in the Long Family Football facility on Wednesday.
His staff is just hours shy of a long weekend when he takes the stage, a nod to their work putting the finishing touches on South Carolina’s 2022 signing class. The Gamecocks — despite seeing tight ends coach Erik Kimrey and director of football relations Connor Shaw depart the program earlier in the day — have their operation rolling after a 7-6 debut campaign and a class that ranks 25th nationally, per 247Sports’ team rankings.
“(Recruiting is) never ending,” Beamer said. “And it’s just one of the other million things that you’re balancing — the portal, your own roster, high school recruiting, your staff — it’s an endless ball of fun.”
Signing day has changed in recent years. With the advent of the early signing period, classes are largely full by the February date that was previously reserved for wall-to-wall television coverage and the introduction of anywhere from 20 to 30 prospects.
South Carolina only signed one high school prospect on Wednesday in Spring Valley quarterback DQ Smith, who isn’t expected to enroll until August and, thus, Beamer wasn’t allowed to talk about publicly under NCAA rules.
Given Smith’s status and the nature of recruiting between December and January, Wednesday’s floor operated as a celebration of USC’s prolific transfer class — particularly those prospects on the offensive side of the ball.
“We’ve got some great returning players on offense already,” Beamer said. “But you guys have heard me say a million times and I’ll continue to say for a long, long time is that we’re about competition and the more we can create competition in certain positions, the better.”
Beamer and his staff have quickly adapted to the new age approach of roster building through the transfer portal over their 14 months on the job. The Gamecocks took nine imports for last year’s team. They added another seven transfers this year, in addition to the 22 high school players they signed in the 2022 cycle.
Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler remains the crown jewel of the group. The former five-star recruit had options at most every school in America coming out of high school. That held true once more after an up-and-down three seasons in Norman. He chose familiarity in Beamer — a former Sooners assistant — and it has since made the Gamecocks a trendy SEC East darkhorse for next fall.
“He texted me last night about how great Day 1 went and how much football he learned in just one day here, which was pretty cool to hear him say,” Beamer said.
Of course, Rattler will need help.
South Carolina had its share of offensive struggles in 2022. It finished 13th in the SEC in scoring, rushing and passing offense during Beamer’s first fall in charge. Its best mark? That would be an 11th-place finish — though that was aided by a 301-yard effort in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl win over North Carolina.
Receiver Josh Vann, do-it-all dynamo Jaheim Bell and running backs Juju McDowell and MarShawn Lloyd are the returners who should aid in that equation. The quartet of tight end Austin Stogner (Oklahoma) receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells Jr. (James Madison) and running backs Christian Beal-Smith (Wake Forest) and Lovasea Carroll (Georgia) ought to also help the cause.
“I’ve got all the scholarship numbers on my desk and it looks like a bunch of hieroglyphics I’ve got so much writing on there,” Beamer joked of how South Carolina has continued to add players despite being well over the 85-man scholarship limit.
The Gamecocks had to get better offensively, albeit even if it couldn’t get much worse than it was in 2021. Beamer and his staff did just that with the transfer portal additions they welcomed to Columbia on Saturday.
Six of those seven players are already on campus. Stogner will join as soon as he wraps up his final few classes at Oklahoma this spring.
National signing day has a new look. The glitz and glamour of years past replaced with a largely mellow afternoon. But for South Carolina, Beamer had every reason to beam as he introduced his new slew of signees.
This story was originally published February 2, 2022 at 5:56 PM.
