Shane Beamer emphasizes keeping talent in South Carolina
Since taking over the South Carolina job, Shane Beamer has emphasized keeping the best players in the state home. The Gamecocks did that in the 2023 class.
South Carolina has always relied on in-state talent to stand out. Players like Nick Emmanwori, Zacch Pickens, and DQ Smith all came from the Gamecocks’ backyard.
That trend continued with Gamecocks eventually pulling in seven commits from the state of South Carolina and with one big target still looming.
“We always want to start here in this state,” Beamer said. “If you look at the rankings of the top players in South Carolina, we signed three of the top four players in the state which is huge.”
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Marquee Anderson, Xzavier McLeod, and Montique Rhames, are all ranked in the top four in the state of South Carolina.
Anderson is a talented four-star interior offensive lineman out of Dorman high school in Roebuck, S.C. The Gamecocks beat out North Carolina, LSU, and Virginia Tech to keep Anderson home.
“Coach (Shane) Beamer coming in, he was a great coach. The relationships that he built with me were just phenomenal. I just respect him a lot. I respect all the coaching,” Anderson said. “I just felt like that was home for me. It was just something about that schools, even though I went to all these other schools on visits, it was just something about South Carolina that stuck.”
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McLeod is a four-star defensive tackle coming in from Camden High School in Camden, SC. Beamer and the Gamecocks also beat out Georgia, Michigan, and LSU to keep him home.
“A big part of my decision was staying home. I think coach Shane Beamer is going to do great things at South Carolina,” McLeod said. “It is a school close to home with great coaches and location did factor into my commitment.”
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Rhames is a versatile four-star EDGE rusher coming in from Manning High School in Sumpter, SC. The Gamecocks beat out schools like NC State, Georgia, Alabama, and Florida State to keep Rhames home. His recruitment was also pretty one-sided once the home-state Gamecocks made the offer.
The Gamecocks also landed Saftey Judge Collier out of Rock Hill, S.C.
In addition to all of the high school recruits, South Carolina landed a pair of transfers from the Palmetto state. Running Back Mario Anderson hails from Goose Creek, S.C., and comes from Newberry.
The Gamecocks also landed defensive tackle Elijah Davis from Wagener, S.C. Furthermore, the JUCO prospect had offers from Alabama, and Ole Miss, but decided to stay home.
The Gamecocks were able to keep a lot of talent home which was a big part of their success during the Spurrier era.
When the Gamecocks were last in the SEC championship game, they had 46 of 105 players from South Carolina on the roster.
“I say it all the time, that’s we got this program to a high level where we playing for the SEC Championship,” Beamer said, “it was doing it by keeping the best players home in South Carolina.”
