A ‘blessed’ Rahsul Faison turns full attention to running for South Carolina
Rahsul Faison was resting at home Monday afternoon when he received a FaceTime call from South Carolina head football coach Shane Beamer.
Beamer was the herald of some long-awaited news: Faison had finally been cleared to receive his seventh year of eligibility and would be able to suit up for the Gamecocks this year.
The news concluded a nearly nine-month saga that started when Faison enrolled at South Carolina in January after transferring from Utah State.
“That was an awesome phone call to make,” Beamer said Wednesday. “... I FaceTimed him and told him (he was cleared) and that was a pretty cool moment that I won’t forget. Just seeing the joy in his face — and all he kept saying was just, ‘Thank you, thank you, thank you,’ because he’s so appreciative for the opportunity.”
Beamer has lauded Faison for his ability to remain positive throughout the process. Faison, meanwhile, didn’t do too much celebrating when he got the call, simply because his focus is now on South Carolina’s season opener versus Virginia Tech on Sunday.
“It was a lot of ups and downs, for sure, but for the most part I was in good spirits through it all because I’ve been here with my teammates, my coaches, Coach Beamer, [running backs Coach Marquel Blackwell]. And then obviously my family, they played a major part,” Faison said. “So people around me just kept me high.
“I had faith that it would happen and the NCAA would do the right thing. So I’m just blessed that they granted me an extra year.”
Faison’s teammates shared their excitement for Faison on social media Monday and again Wednesday when speaking with reporters.
“I’m happy for him,” South Carolina defensive back Brandon Cisse said. “I enjoy just to see somebody of that caliber of a player to be on our team. He’s a special kind of talent, so it’s exciting to have somebody like that when you know he’s going to be out there for sure. It’s a big difference-maker for us.”
How the Faison decision impacts the RB room
The Gamecocks have been preparing as if Faison would be cleared for the season.
The running backs, Blackwell indicated, would be by-committee until someone proved themselves worthy of being the lead guy, whether Faison was cleared or not. Faison was prepared no matter what.
“I just had in my head that I was playing,” Faison said.
With Faison cleared, Beamer believes that makes South Carolina’s running back even stronger.
“We were going to play multiple running backs and now that he’s eligible, he’s going to play, and then there’ll be other guys in that room that will also play,” Beamer said. “So it makes a room that I was really excited about already, it makes that room even better and gets me even more excited to just add to the depth and the personnel in that running back room.”
Faison adds a veteran presence to a group that returns just one running back (Oscar Adaway) from last year who logged more than 50 carries and only two who tallied over 100 rushing yards in 2024. Faison earned All-Mountain West honors last season after rushing for 1,109 yards and eight touchdowns.
“I think he’s an elite back,” Cisse said. “He can go out of the backfield, go play slot receiver. He possesses a lot of different things that we can do on offense, the way we got to get him involved. He possesses a tough task for anybody. In the open field, he can go out and make people miss.”
South Carolina wide receiver Nyck Harbor said he’s looking forward to blocking for Faison in games, something he believes the tailback makes easier because of his “downhill running.”
“He’s gonna go make plays for us,” Harbor said. “… He just wants to get down the field. He wants to go score.”
