Suspended South Carolina football player reveals transfer destination
A suspended South Carolina football player is heading elsewhere to continue his college football career.
Cameron Upshaw has signed to play at Garden City Community College (Kansas), according to a tweet from a GCCC assistant coach on Monday night.
Upshaw had been away from the USC football program since February following the arrests of former teammates Monteque Rhames and Anthony Rose on felony weapons charges.
“I just want to show the world that what happened isn’t a reflection of my character, so you can expect to see me doing a lot of giving back soon,” Upshaw told Phil Kornblut of SportsTalkSC.
According to a warrant for Rose’s arrest issued on Feb. 6, university housing staff “observed and photographed an AR-15 rifle” in his room at 650 Lincoln, a USC student housing property. When university police arrived at the apartment, Rose — according to the warrant — threw the rifle and its magazine out his window.
A second warrant for Rhames’ arrest served on Feb 3. indicated he, along with another unnamed defendant, retrieved the rifle from a courtyard area outside the apartment. Rhames then “concealed the rifle in his pants, walked through the residence hall and ultimately left the property in a minor codefendant’s vehicle.”
Upshaw wasn’t named in either warrant. However, he was under the age of 18 at the time of the arrests and was suspended by USC at the same time as Rhames and Rose.
The Florida native was rated a three-star recruit and the No. 894 player in the 2023 class, per the 247Sports Composite Rankings. Upshaw chose South Carolina over reported offers from Arkansas, Boston College, Maryland, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Penn State and West Virginia, among others.
Upshaw, who enrolled early at South Carolina, is the second former USC player to land at Garden City this offseason after walk-on quarterback Jalen Daniels did so in February.
“Just an opportunity to grow on and off the field,” Upshaw told Kornblut. “I know the coaches out there personally and I know they’ll take good care of me while I’m there. It’s also a move I made so I won’t be just sitting around this year. I’ll be able to play and won’t come back beat up and out of shape.
“The biggest thing for me right now is just growth. I want to grow in all aspects of life and mature to be a better person for myself and others around me. And I’ll have experience under my belt so I can hit the ground running and not look back when it’s time to go back in January.”
Rose also previously announced he was entering the transfer portal, he and Rhames have not made their future plans public.
