Ashley Chastain shares her plan to capitalize on transfer portal and NIL at South Carolina

As she steps into her new role at South Carolina, Ashley Chastain has acknowledged the impact NIL and transfer portal will have on her team. Chastain has big plans of how to capitalize on both to get Gamecock softball back to the top.

“It just means more, right?” Chastain said. “We’ve got to do it all, I think with what we want to do with the program, the level that we want to win. We’re going to be really good at all of it.”

From her time as the head coach at Charlotte, Chastain didn’t have access to NIL in a comparable way to the resources she will have now. However, the transfer portal is something she is accustomed to and prepared to utilize.

[Get your first month of GamecockCentral for $1!]

“The transfer portal, we have a lot of experience with. Last few years at Charlotte I think it was a way that we brought a lot of experience into the program that I was leading at that time and had some success in a short amount of time,” Chastain said.

“But I mean, I think you have to use the portal. I think it’s a great way to give players opportunities as a new start. Everyone has a story, everyone has a different journey. I think it’s really important to get to know that in the recruiting process as we go through the portal.”

Chastain’s recipe for success boils down to recruiting elite high school athletes as well as top transfers. Ahead of the 2025 season, Chastain plans to hit the ground running in the transfer portal.

“We’re embracing it you know, we want to get the best high school players in the country,” Chastain said. “But we also want to get the best players out of the portal and we need to bring both in and make that cohesive. Marry those two things together to have the best team that we can have here so we’re running full force in the portal.”

[Subscribe for free to Gamecock Central’s YouTube page]

Before Charlotte, Chastain gained experience with the SEC and NIL serving as an assistant coach at Ole Miss. So she already has some idea of what she’s getting into returning to her alma mater. With plans to hit the ground running and building relationships in the community, the future is bright for Gamecock softball.

“As far as NIL goes, we’re going to need a lot of support,” Chastain said. “I think for me that’s going to be building relationships in the community and just building a lot of support with people that are excited about what we are doing. I think that comes down to personal connections and relationships that I’m going to work really hard at moving forward.”

Discuss South Carolina softball on The Insiders Forum!