Vanderbilt transfer Jayden McGowan issues statement regarding status, ‘NIL situation’
Vanderbilt transfer wide receiver Jayden McGowan has yet to announce his plans after not signing Wednesday with South Carolina.
The Laurens product committed to the Gamecocks on Dec. 13 and still has that decision post pinned on his X page and Instagram pages. The reporting as to why McGowan is not a Gamecock at this point has focused on the respective NIL deals proffered by USC and Boston College.
It’s been suggested that BC offered more, McGowan wanted USC to match and the Gamecocks refused.
McGowan offered this rebuttal to that notion in a text message to SportsTalkSC:
“I’m not sure how to go about this situation now that people are lying and saying I asked SC for more money after I committed and also that tried to use the BC offer as leverage. I’ve never done that, and you can ask coach (Justin) Stepp. I never told them how much BC offered to begin with because the money is not that important.
“What’s important is to be somewhere that I will get to show off my abilities and ultimately get me drafted to the NFL. Idk (I don’t know) where these false reports are coming from, but I just wanted to clear the air and state that the NIL situation is completely false.
“Still not completely positive but my hesitancy is due to things other than money because I told SC and BC that my next move isn’t to be paper chasing because I was offered more money somewhere else and I’m not entertaining that school. And if I was so worried about money instead of football, I could’ve simply stayed at Vandy.”
Transfer QB update
Auburn transfer quarterback Robby Ashford (6-4 225) has had contact with the Gamecocks, according to a program source. Hale McGranahan of TheBigSpur also reported Ashford might visit USC when transfers can take visits again starting Jan. 3.
Ashford spent his first two college seasons at Oregon, his last two at Auburn. He has thrown for 1,758 yards, nine touchdowns and nine interceptions in his career and rushed for 927 yards and 12 scores. He’s a native of Hoover, Alabama.