NIL didn’t sway Spencer Rattler to sign with South Carolina, Shane Beamer says
Name, image and likeness issues are running rampant in college football. According to South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer, NIL had little to do with quarterback Spencer Rattler’s commitment to the Gamecocks.
“From our end, none,” Beamer said Tuesday at Southeastern Conference spring meetings. “I know he’s worked out some deals since he came to South Carolina and good for him, but on the front end, nothing. Our conversations, my conversations with Spencer and his dad, NIL never came up.”
Rattler is widely considered one of the best quarterbacks to hit the transfer market over the last few years following his departure from Oklahoma. He’s also thought of as one of the more marketable players in college football.
On3.com rated the ex-Sooner signal-caller as the eighth-most valuable player in college sports and fifth among college football players with an NIL valuation of $2 million.
Rattler has publicly acknowledged Columbia-based NIL deals with Jim Hudson Chevrolet and local retailer Gamecock Traditions, among others.
The former five-star recruit entered the 2021 season as a perceived Heisman Trophy finalist and a player possibly in play to be the No. 1 overall selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. Rattler was ultimately replaced by five-star freshman Caleb Williams and, subsequently, departed Norman for Columbia.
“We got on a Zoom call with (Rattler) and his entire family and NIL never came up,” Beamer continued. “It was selling everything that we have at the University of South Carolina have to offer academically, athletically and socially in Columbia is what we sold — which is what we do with all of our prospects as well when they come through.
“We don’t bring (prospects) in on recruiting visits and have a one-hour NIL education session with them. Some schools do. We haven’t gotten to that point, yet. And I’m not saying it hasn’t come up in recruiting with other prospects, but with Spencer — zero.”
NIL discussions are at the center of this week’s meetings in Destin following a rather public dust-up between Alabama head coach Nick Saban and Texas A&M’s Jimbo Fisher in recent weeks.
Saban was recorded at an event in Birmingham alluding to Fisher’s staff “buying” their No. 1-ranked 2022 recruiting class. That led to an impromptu news conference in which Fisher called out Saban for his comments.
All that prompted a response from the SEC office. Both coaches were issued public reprimands from the league.
“Public criticism of any kind does not resolve issues and creates a distraction from seeking solutions for the issues facing college athletics today,” SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said in a news release. “There is tremendous frustration concerning the absence of consistent rules from state to state related to name, image and likeness. We need to work together to find solutions and that will be our focus at the upcoming SEC Spring Meetings.”
The NCAA has largely avoided issuing any kind of legitimate legislation or regulation on NIL deals within college athletics out of fear for possible anti-trust lawsuits or other legal ramifications.
College sports’ governing body did offer guidance regarding NIL on May 9 in response to the increased involvement of third-party organizations branded as “collectives.”
The booster-type organizations have been alleged to pool money from boosters under the premise of NIL deals and direct it to current athletes through endorsements or appearances, or to prospects in the form of financial promises if they sign with that university.
“I think probably, like most coaches when you ask that question, the fact that it’s (NIL) somewhat become pay-for-play, which is not what it was intended to be,” Beamer said of what the biggest issue is facing NIL in the current climate. “If you had any foresight at all, you would see that coming, that when NIL went into effect that was going to be an end result of it.
“I don’t know if everybody felt that way. But certainly those people that I talked to, myself included, kind of saw it going in that direction when it was instituted.”
This story was originally published May 31, 2022 at 12:30 PM.
