Shane Beamer opens up on revenue sharing with women's sports

Shane Beamer knows he’s in a unique position as the football coach on a college campus that erected a statue for legendary South Carolina women’s basketball coach Dawn Staley, who’s won three NCAA national championships in the last decade. But as California district judge Claudia Wilken weighs a revised House v. NCAA settlement that will usher in revenue sharing between schools and student-athletes, the balance of power on the Gamecocks’ campus will now come with a price tag.

What those numbers ultimately look like will be up to the South Carolina administration, including new athletic director Jeremiah Donati. That said, according to the settlement’s proposed distribution model, Power Four football programs are expected to receive roughly 75-percent of approximately $20.5 million in rev-share money while women’s basketball is slotted to get 5-percent of that, or less than $500,000 annually based on that initial $20.5 million figure.

“Our situation is different because of Coach Staley, not every football coach shares a campus with a women’s basketball coach that has a statue, and she’s till coaching. … You realize the impact that she has on our university and our community, and we’re extremely close,” Beamer said last week in Greenville. “Ultimately those decisions are up to Jeremiah Donati and our administration. And I’m a team player, and coach Staley is a team player. She’s extremely supportive of what we’re doing football-wise, and I’m extremely supportive of what she’s doing basketball-wise. We try to help each other in so many ways, and that’s not going to change. And ultimately what it looks like, she understands the revenue that football brings in, not just at South Carolina but everywhere. She understands that, but she also wants to win championships too, and she’s a competitive person also.”

Despite that clear financial discrepency, Beamer knows however South Carolina’s revenue-sharing finances are ultimately split up amongst the sports, it’ll all be for the betterment of the entire Gamecocks athletic department at large.

“As far as having specific conversations (about revenue-sharing), no, but I think she’d say the same thing and I’m saying the same thing,” Beamer continued. “We all want South Carolina to be great in every sport, whether it be women’s basketball, men’s basketball with Lamont (Paris), baseball with Coach (Paul) Mainieri, women’s golf with Kalen (Anderson), you name it. The best thing is for all of us to be successful.”

Shane Beamer endorses Nick Saban as co-chair of commission on college sports

A week after Nick Saban introduced President Donald Trump at an Alabama commencement event, On3’s Pete Nakos reported the legendary coach would be part of a commission on college sports. Saban is expected to be a co-chair of the commission, along with Texas Tech Board of Regents chairman Cody Campbell.

Speaking with reporters this week, Shane Beamer expressed his support for Saban’s involvement. The South Carolina coach endorsed Trump’s expected decision to name him co-chair.

Beamer pointed out Saban’s stature in college football as one of the greatest to ever roam the sidelines and how that translates to the future of the game. While he didn’t know many specifics about Trump’s commission on college sports, Beamer said Saban would be one of his first calls about changing the current landscape.

“I don’t know enough about it. I think if you’re looking for anyone to spearhead change or be in a leadership position when it comes to college football going forward, he’s the first person that would come to mind from my standpoint,” Beamer said on the “Welcome Home Tour” in Greenville. “I know a lot of people would say the same. Don’t know enough about it, but all for it.”

Yahoo Sports first reported Trump’s plans to form a commission focused on college sports. The Athletic also added the president will be “very engaged” because of the national importance he sees in college athletics.

— On3’s Nick Schultz contributed to this report.