Shane Beamer throws shade at former Gamecock for transfer decision rationale
Think about where South Carolina’s football team was just over a year ago.
The Gamecocks had just lost to Clemson to cap off a 5-7 season, missing a bowl game for the first time under coach Shane Beamer. Even worse: Arguably their two best players — QB Spencer Rattler and wide receiver Xavier Legette — were headed to the NFL.
Some questioned the direction South Carolina’s program was headed. Media. Fans. Heck, even some players.
Beamer brought this up on Tuesday, as the Gamecocks sit with a 7-3 record and a chance to win 10 games for the fifth time in school history. He thought back to a conversation he had with a “player who left our program after last season.”
The player, Beamer said, told the South Carolina coach he wasn’t confident in the the future of the program.
“He said, ‘I don’t think we’re going to be very good and we don’t have a quarterback,’ ” Beamer said. “He told me that.”
That “player,” in all likelihood was wide receiver Antwane “Juice” Wells, who left South Carolina and transferred to Ole Miss this offseason. Since departing Columbia, Wells has been vocal that he went to Ole Miss because he felt the Rebels were “the best team in the SEC.”
University and team sources told The State ahead of South Carolina’s matchup against Ole Miss that one of the biggest reasons Wells left was because he didn’t think the Gamecocks had a great quarterback on its roster.
In his office last winter, Beamer recalled, he tried to reason with the player.
“I said, ‘Well, I disagree, we’ve got us a quarterback. You’ve seen our quarterbacks at practice,’ ” Beamer said, “ ‘and we’re going to be good around him.’ And that player said, ‘I don’t know, coach, it ain’t looking too good.’ ”
Beamer did not identify the position of the transfer in question, but USC did have four other receivers transfer last year — O’Mega Blake, Landon Samson, Zavier Short, Kylic Horton — but most saw little playing time.
And perhaps it’s ironic that on the same day Beamer shared that story, South Carolina redshirt freshman quarterback LaNorris Sellers was named the Walter Camp National Offensive Player of the Week after throwing for 353 yards and five touchdowns in a win over Missouri.
Sellers on the season has thrown for 1,803 yards in nine games and thrown 14 touchdowns to five interceptions. He’s completed almost 63% of his passes.
He’s added 436 yards rushing and four scores.
“I know LaNorris Sellers was an unknown,” Beamer said, “but ... I mean, we had a good team coming back this year.”
