Shane Beamer, South Carolina prepare for next wave of newcomer move-ins
Shane Beamer’s college move-in looked a bit different than most, but the emotions then still resonate.
Beamer moved from his childhood home in Blacksburg, Virginia onto campus at Virginia Tech, where he spent his college years playing receiver and long snapper for his father, Frank, the Hokies’ legendary head coach.
“It was still sad for me and still sad for my mom, and all I did was just move from my house to campus, which is four miles away,” the younger Beamer recounted at a Gamecock Club event on Tuesday night. “So now I certainly ought to remember that and I’m well aware of what these families are going through.”
South Carolina is anticipating the bulk of its 2022 recruiting class will arrive on campus Wednesday, per Beamer, following a handful of arrivals in January before spring practices.
Among those who are expected to be in Columbia this week are four-star quarterback Tanner Bailey, four-star athlete Keenan Nelson Jr., four-star linebacker Stone Blanton and three-star receiver Landon Samson, among others.
Another three or four players will enroll later this summer.
Three-star offensive tackle Ryan Brubaker told The State last week he’s set to enroll in June due to his school year not wrapping up for another few weeks.
“I’ll be able to meet with them to visit with them (Wednesday),” Beamer explained. “Then they all go through the orientation-type through the weekend and then we’ll have a team meeting on Monday night, get ready to hit the ground running on Tuesday with classes and workouts and all that.”
Seven 2022 USC high school signees enrolled in time for spring practices. Those players included three-star quarterback Braden Davis, three-star linebacker Donovan Westmoreland and three-star defensive backs Anthony Rose and Peyton Williams.
South Carolina had also already landed the bulk of its transfer class on campus for the spring semester. Former Oklahoma tight end Austin Stogner, ex-Arkansas State receiver Corey Rucker and East Tennessee State tight end Nate Adkins should all arrive in Columbia this week.
Under new NCAA rules, staffs are allowed an increased amount of time to meet with players and go through organized workouts that were previously limited during the offseason. Beamer noted on Tuesday that he expects the sessions to benefit freshmen attempting to work their way up the depth chart early in their careers.
“If you’re an incoming freshman that wasn’t here for spring practice, it’s so beneficial for you, because we’ll be able to do more football activities, on-the-field work, meetings than we’ve ever been able to do,” he said. “... If you utilize it the right way, it’s really trying to learn the offense, learn the defense, learn special teams. It’s really like spring practices or two rounds of installation because you’ll do it the whole month of June, the whole month of July and then you get it again in the month of August.”
South Carolina is entering its second season under Beamer following a 7-6 debut season that was capped off with a 38-21 throttling of North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl.
USC will open its season on Sept. 3 against Georgia State and former Steve Spurrier assistant Shawn Elliott, now the Panthers’ head coach.
South Carolina Transfer Portal Additions
