Shane Beamer addresses transfer of Drew Tuazama

South Carolina defensive lineman Drew Tuazama entered the NCAA transfer portal on Wednesday. He spent just one season with the program but after graduating, Tuazama is once again looking for a new home. It will be his fifth program — including JUCO — since being a member of the 2018 recruiting class.

Shane Beamer addressed Tuazama’s decision to leave, saying he could see the move coming during spring practice. South Carolina put him at multiple positions and still felt the need to add multiple quality players at EDGE and defensive tackle. Tuazama was going to be grouped with a lot of good players, potentially cutting down on his playing time in 2024.

“Those are some things that, I thought, during spring practice were trending in that direction,” Beamer said. “Again, a situation where, good player that we were excited about. Still are excited about. Just wanted the opportunity to play a little bit more. He’s at a position where he’s worked at the EDGE position and the tackle position since he’s been in Columbia.

“And that’s a position where we brought in a lot of really good players either from high school recruiting or the transfer portal since January. He’s in the mix with a lot of other guys at that position.”

Last season for the Gamecocks, Tuazama appeared in five games and made the first FBS start of his career against Georgia. Recording his only tackle of the season in Week 3 between the hedges in a 24-14 loss to the Bulldogs.

But Beamer brought in seven different players at either EDGE or defensive line, mixed between the high school ranks and the transfer portal.

Entering the portal himself gave Tuazama, a sixth-year player, the chance to get more action on the field for what would be his final season of college football.

“I don’t want to speak for him but I think he felt like ‘Another opportunity here in front of me, I want to go somewhere where my role is a little more solidified than what it is here.'”

Tuazama played high school football at Knightdale High School in North Carolina before being rated a three-star prospect. Ranked the No. 4 overall recruit and the No. 1 EDGE in the prep ranks out of Jireh in 2019, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

On3’s Kaiden Smith contributed to this report