Shane Beamer says NIL was not involved in recruiting Spencer Rattler to South Carolina

The South Carolina Gamecocks struck in a big way this offseason through the transfer portal, adding former Oklahoma Sooners quarterback Spencer Rattler. But according to On3’s Jesse Simonton, NIL was not a selling point to Rattler on South Carolina’s end.

According to The Athletic’s Seth Emerson, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said on Tuesday at the SEC coaches meetings that Beamer has found some NIL deals since committing to the Gamecocks, but none of that was agreed upon before he announced his commitment.

“From our end, none,” Beamer said, via Emerson. “Now I know he’s worked out some deals since he got to South Carolina, and good for him. But on the front end, nothing.”

Rattler began his career at Oklahoma, and he turned into a Heisman contender following a strong 2020 season where he completed 67.5% of his passes and threw for over 3,000 yards with 28 touchdowns. Last season, though, Rattler disappointed with the Sooners and was eventually benched in favor of Caleb Williams. Following the season, Rattler entered the portal and eventually wound up with the Gamecocks.

Rattler has played under Beamer before, so the two had a prior relationship when the quarterback hit the portal. But even though Rattler ranks No. 8 in the NIL 100 rankings from On3, the NIL deals waited until after he made a decision, not the other way around.

Rattler is excited for the environment at South Carolina

The end of Rattler’s tenure at Oklahoma didn’t end on the note he likely would have preferred, but he now gets a fresh start at South Carolina. He should immediately step in and be an upgrade at quarterback for the Gamecocks, and the incredible atmosphere that Rattler experienced at the spring game was something that was awesome for him.

“It was really fun getting out there, I mean what a great turnout with the fans,” Rattler said. “That was an environment I’ve never seen in a spring game before, so it was a lot of fun getting out there, throwing it around a little bit, getting a couple of runs and guys look good.

“It was like non-stop. You look left and right, fans everywhere. I’ve never seen anything like that. And then coach [Marcus] Satterfield said, ‘look at that, times that by five or 50.’ That’s gonna that’s what it’s going to be later in the season, so I can only imagine what it’s going to be like [on game day].”