Shane Beamer: South Carolina 'will continue to be' active recruiting DMV area

South Carolina has the typical schools it goes against in recruiting. 

Georgia, North Carolina, Florida, Tennessee and other Southeastern schools are always going to be in the mix. But over the last two cycles, another recruiting rival has emerged further north in Maryland. 

And given the way South Carolina is recruiting the DMV area right now, that rivalry isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. 

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“It’s no secret we’re very, very active in that region, the DMV,” Shane Beamer said. “There are great players, great programs, great coaches. We will continue to be.”

The Gamecocks ventured up Interstate 95 last cycle to grab a few players including Braden Davis (Delaware) plus Keenan Nelson and Ryan Brubaker out of Pennslyvania. 

They snagged Tyshawn Russell and Zahbari Sandy in the 2023 class also. But going up into the DMV area hasn’t come without its fair share of recruiting fireworks, especially with the Terps. 

The Gamecocks landed a Maryland linebacker last season in Jaishawn Barham before he flipped to Maryland. This year South Carolina was locked in a battle with four-star offensive lineman Oluwatosin Babalade. The Gamecocks ultimately won out. 

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Babalade initially committed to South Carolina before the season started only to back off that pledge in mid-December after an in-home visit with the Gamecocks’ staff.

Babalade was spotted at a Terps’ basketball game a few days ago, which caused smoke to intensify to Maryland. But Babalade stayed the course after communication with South Carolina’s staff and picked the Gamecocks. 

Beamer did have to climb into another tree to further his point in recruiting, and it worked. The Gamecocks have three players committed from that DMV area in this 2023 class: four-star edge rusher Desmond Umeozulu, Babalade (four-star lineman) and Sandy (three-star safety). 

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“We’ve had great success with young men from that area who are already here in this program who’ve told them great things about what we’re doing here. We’ll continue to recruit in that area heavily as well,” Beamer said. 

“Whether it’s Maryland, whether it’s Penn State, whether it’s Virginia or Virginia Tech or Ohio State. There are a lot of programs that recruit that area. A lot of those guys want to play SEC football and we’re the closest program to them. So it’s attractive to them in a lot of ways.” 

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Those South Carolina and Maryland battles aren’t over, though. The Gamecocks are going to try and continue to strengthen their grip on the DMV area over the next few classes. 

The biggest name, though, is five-star athlete Nyckoles Harbor. Harbor is the No. 26 player in On3’s rankings and top-ranked athlete in the 2023 class. He is strongly considering both schools plus Michigan and LSU. 

And Beamer gave a pitch to all DMV athletes during his Wednesday press conference. 

“I have to be careful, ’cause we’re not done yet either from that standpoint. There are a lot of programs we compete against,” Beamer said. “So many of them want to play not just SEC football, but they want to play football games in front of sold-out crowds. If they want to play football games in front of sold-out crowds and huge environments and what football’s supposed to look like, they need to come here. We certainly give them that opportunity.”

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