Why 2026 football recruit Triston Lewis wasted no time committing to Gamecocks
Last week, Triston Lewis was going about his business at a travel ball baseball tournament.
After completing his warm up in batting practice he realized he had missed a call from South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer.
Lewis immediately called back.
“In my head, I don’t know what’s going on, but my hopes (got up), I got excited,” Lewis told The State on Tuesday. “... Then (Beamer) ended up saying, ‘I’m just cutting straight to the chase: We’re gonna offer you and we want you to be a Gamecock.’”
Lewis plays football (as well as baseball and basketball) at Greenwood High School, about an hour and a half west of Columbia.
Lewis is listed as an athlete by 247Sports since he’s spent time on both sides of the ball, though most of his high school reps have been at quarterback for Greenwood. Lewis earned all-region honors last year after he threw for 1,444 yards and 11 touchdowns last year and ran for 843 yards and 11 touchdowns. South Carolina offered him as a defensive back, Lewis said.
Some recruits take days, weeks or even months to announce their college destination. But not Lewis — he only needed a few minutes.
“Thank you,” Lewis told Beamer when he offered. “I’m ready to commit right now.”
Lewis tweeted he had been offered to play defensive back by Beamer and his staff at 2:22 p.m. on July 17. Beamer sent out his usual “#WelcomeHome” tweet — which signals South Carolina has picked up a commitment — at 3:21 p.m. the same day, with a nod to Greenwood alum and Gamecocks legend DJ Swearinger.
Lewis capped it off by officially announcing his commitment to South Carolina in a social media post just after 4 p.m. The entire process took a few hours.
“Them taking a chance on me playing a different position and giving me a chance to play at the next level, that was big to me,” Lewis said. “Especially with me living in Greenwood, South Carolina, like an hour and a half away, that was cool, too.”
“I went to a game last year versus Wofford, and just the coaching staff, how Coach Beamer is with the players, the whole atmosphere of the stadium, the energy, it just felt like I was home but playing with a bigger crowd. Even though I wasn’t playing, it felt like I was on the field in the moment.”
Beamer and his staff are taking a chance on Lewis as a DB.
Lewis played some safety during his freshman year but has spent most of his time in high school playing quarterback.
During the spring, South Carolina receivers coach Mike Furrey brought up the idea Lewis coming to a Gamecock camp and playing safety, Lewis said. That assessment, along with wanting to help Greenwood out on defense, prompted the change.
The transition from quarterback to defensive back has been “easy,” Lewis said.
“I’ve always trained like an athlete,” Lewis said. “I’ll go to quarterback training and throw some, (then) do footwork. ... I can play wide receiver or DB. You would think I played one of (those positions) the way that I just do my training.”
Lewis got some of his first live reps at safety this summer in front of Beamer and his staff during one of South Carolina’s 7-on-7 high school camps.
“I did what I had to do,” Lewis said. “The next day, I came back to camp and I showed him what I could do.”
Lewis added he’s developed a solid relationship with South Carolina defensive backs coach Torrian Gray throughout the recruitment process.
“The relationship with Coach Gray is like you’re his family,” Lewis said. “We were just having conversations, just checking up on each other every day for the most part. Just talking like we’ve known each other for the longest. It really wasn’t just always about football. We just talked about what was going on.”
In the current state of the college sports it’s become commonplace for recruits to commit to more than one school before they ultimately land at their college destination. Take Gamecock quarterback LaNorris Sellers: He was verbally committed to both Virginia and Syracuse before he signed with South Carolina.
But all signs point towards that not being the case for Lewis. He told The State he has no plans of backing off his commitment and even plans to enroll early at South Carolina. He’s already switched his Greenwood class schedule to accommodate that.
“Don’t really got to worry about me going anywhere else,” Lewis said.
This story was originally published July 23, 2025 at 8:00 AM.
