Shane Beamer gives latest on Gamecocks' injuries, roster
South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer expects his Gamecocks to be nearly fully healthy when they report to camp two weeks from now.
Redshirt senior defensive tackle Rick Sandidge, who missed all of the 2021 season with a leg injury and then was limited in spring practice as well, is the lone Gamecock player Beamer identified as likely to be unavailable for camp.
“Still kind of waiting to see with Rick Sandidge kind of where we are on that and we’ll see what happens,” Beamer said Tuesday while meeting with the local media at SEC Media Days. “He’d be the only one right now that I don’t think would be cleared to start practice here in a couple of weeks, but knock on wood, feel like everybody is in a good spot right now as we finish up the summer.”
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Asked specifically about fifth-year “super senior” offensive tackle Dylan Wonnum‘s status, Beamer said that the former four-star signee should be good to go after seeing his 2021 campaign cut short due to a back injury that required surgery.
“Expect him to be full-go,” Beamer said. “He’s been doing everything this summer. (We’ve had) a couple of nagging things that come up in the summer, hamstrings, things like that, sore, but nothing major. Everybody is full-go in the weight room right now. We’ve got this week, a couple of days next week and then our players will get a little bit of a break, before we start practice officially. But as we stand right now, everybody is in a good position.”
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Beamer added that freshman defensive tackle Jamaal Whyce is back with the program now after being away from the team during spring practice for personal reasons.
“He’s been back for the summer,” Beamer said. “He was handling some personal things during spring practice and wasn’t necessarily involved with football, but was still in school handling his academics and taking care of some personal things. He did what he was supposed to in the spring time and has been back with us since early June when the team came back.”
Additionally, the Gamecocks head coach confirmed that senior wide receiver Jalen Brooks is back with the team after missing half of last season and all of the spring for undisclosed reasons.
Beamer and a trio of seniors — Dakereon Joyner, Zacch Pickens and Jovaughn Gwyn — are representing South Carolina at SEC Media Days Tuesday. Stay with Gamecock Central for complete coverage!
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