Shane Beamer explains how South Carolina landed Air Noland

Former Ohio State quarterback Air Noland surprised many with his committment to South Carolina during the winter transfer portal window. With LaNorris Sellers set to return to the program next season, he may not see the field as much as he would at another program.

Despite this, Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer revealed the recruiting pitch that lured Noland to Columbia, and how the former four-star quarterback impressed him with his response.

“Credit to him, cause all he wants is an opportunity to compete,” Beamer told reporters ahead of the Citrus Bowl. “I said to this to you guys last year, a lot of quarterbacks were interested in South Carolina because of Spencer [Rattler]. They wanted to come here, but they went on to other Power Five schools and became starters because they wouldn’t come here because I wouldn’t promise them the starting job.

“I didn’t promise Air anything but the chance to compete.”

Noland set off to make a good impression right away, even before he committed to Beamer and company.

“He saw an opportunity to learn under LaNorris and learn under Coach [Mike] Shula,” Beamer continued. “Mike Shula was a big attraction to him. I did not know Air, was really impressed with he and his family while they were down here. He walked around with a notebook for the two days he was here and took notes. I was really impressed.”

Noland did not play for the Buckeyes during his lone season with the Buckeyes, but the Gamecocks were likely far from the only team who coveted his services in the transfer portal.

The Gamecocks are getting a highly-touted quarterback prospect in Noland, who was a consensus four-star prospect in the 2024 On3 Industry Rankings, which is a proprietary algorithm that compiles ratings and rankings from all four primary recruiting media services. He was the No. 5 overall quarterback in his cycle.

An Elite 11 finalist before arriving at Ohio State, he impressed during the competition as one of the more accurate passers of the group. He’ll look to prove that when he hits the practice field for South Carolina this Spring and potentially play for more minutes as a redshirt freshman.

Before that, however, South Carolina still has the Citrus Bowl against Illinois to play on New Year’s Eve. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. ET live on ABC.