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WATCH: Shane Beamer tells amazing story on women's hoops title affecting recruiting

ns_headshot_2024-clearby:Nick Schultz•04/13/22•

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South Carolina had plenty to celebrate this month when the women’s basketball team won the national championship. The victory provided great exposure for the program — and other university teams, as Shane Beamer told Paul Finebaum on Wednesday.

Beamer told two amazing stories about the Gamecocks’ national championship win and how it’s affecting football recruiting this year. Some football recruits tuned in for the game and know the program, and Beamer said he’s hearing quite a buzz as he brings them in for visits. In fact, one recruit sounded more interested in meeting Dawn Staley than meeting Beamer.

“Before I got on this call, I was FaceTiming with a recruit and he was asking me about the parade tonight for the women’s basketball team,” Beamer told Finebaum in an interview on Wednesday. “He lives here in South Carolina and had an interest in coming over here to watch it. So certainly recruits feed off that energy.

“We had a prospect on campus recently that all he wanted to do was meet Dawn Staley. She took the time to do that and he later told me that was the highlight of his visit. So anytime you have great coaches and great teams on your campus, it helps all the other sports. And we’re no exception.”

That should be music to Beamer’s ears. South Carolina football had the No. 27 recruiting class in the country in 2022, according to the On3 Consensus Team Rankings. The Gamecocks also brought in some big-time transfers from the transfer portal, including former Oklahoma quarterback Spencer Rattler, who was ranked as the No. 8 transfer in the portal, according to the On3 Transfer Portal Rankings.

As recruiting for the Class of 2023 heats up, the ripple effect could continue for the football program, which is still searching for its first 2023 commit.