Is South Carolina signing a quarterback? What Shane Beamer says
Shane Beamer held his signing day press conference at 2 p.m. Wednesday and was forced to awkwardly talk around the elephant in the room.
Is four-star quarterback Landon Duckworth signing with South Carolina?
Duckworth — a Jackson, Alabama recruit ranked as the No. 10 quarterback in America — has been committed to the Gamecocks since July and has seemed locked into his pledge to Beamer.
And then Wednesday’s signing day rolled around and there were reports that LSU and new head coach Lane Kiffin were making a hard push for Duckworth. Not long after, Rivals recruiting expert Steve Wiltfong logged a prediction for Duckworth to flip to LSU.
Still, by the time Beamer started speaking to local reporters, Duckworth hadn’t signed anywhere — which meant it would be a recruiting violation to speak about him.
When asked if he had any concern about the commitments who hadn’t signed yet, Beamer said he did not.
“Signing day is an adventure,” he said. “There’s a lot of different factors at play nowadays. You never rest easy but feel good about everyone who was committed. ... Every young man must have to make the decision that’s best for them.”
Regardless of whether Duckworth signs, Beamer noted that he’s going to have to take a hard look at possibly adding a quarterback through the transfer portal. Without Duckworth, the quarterbacks currently on scholarship are LaNorris Sellers, redshirt freshman Air Noland and true freshman Cutter Woods.
“We have three (quarterbacks) on scholarship. We may have four on scholarship later — who knows?” Beamer said. “Regardless, I think you certainly have to keep your options open, from that standpoint.”
What makes the quarterback room even more of a question mark is the fact that it’s still not known whether Sellers will return to South Carolina. He could throw hi name in the NFL Draft, where perhaps a team would fall in love with his physical traits.
Regardless, keeping Duckworth would give Beamer much more comfort about the future of his quarterback room.
