Shane Beamer excited to welcome home EDGE transfer Jatius Geer
South Carolina knew it wanted to add some immediate help at its EDGE position for the upcoming season and they happened to find exactly what they were looking for in the form of a Palmetto State native in the transfer portal.
When Syracuse defensive end Jatius Geer, a Belton-Honea Path graduate from Anderson, S.C., entered the transfer portal in late April, the Gamecocks wasted no time in jumping in on his recruitment and making it apparent that it was time to come home.
A few weeks later, after an official visit to check out the finer details of the program, Geer announced his commitment to South Carolina.
Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer, speaking prior to the Welcome Home Tour Event in Florence Monday, gave his first public comments on what the addition of Geer should mean for his roster.
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“Excited about him,” Beamer said. “Has had a productive year last year for Syracuse, and somebody that’s from the state of South Carolina. So it’s important to be able to get a South Carolinian back on our roster, especially one that’s as productive as he is, and especially one that’s at a position of need like he is. So he’ll help us to provide depth in that room, and pass rush ability, and size, and it’s good to get a guy in here that’s hungry, but has also played a lot of football.”
The 6-foot-6, 233-pounder emerged as a big-time pass-rusher for Syracuse as a redshirt freshman this past season, playing in all 13 games with 12 starts.
He finished the year with 33 tackles, 6.5 tackles for loss, 3.5 sacks, six quarterback hurries, a forced fumble, and a blocked kick.
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Geer should provide immediate help at an EDGE spot that lost Jordan Burch and Gilber Edmond from last year’s team.
And there’s added value from the fact that he has three years of eligibility left.
“It’s great,” Beamer said. “And nothing against the guys that you bring in that just have one year, but certainly when you can get a guy in here and then know he’s gonna be with you for a while, it’s huge. It’s almost like bringing in a redshirt freshman from somewhere, not even a redshirt, but a freshman from somewhere that you’ve got a chance to develop, but it’s also somebody that’s played a lot of football.
“So we’ve got some other guys like that in our program. Obviously, Spencer (Rattler) coming back for another year, and we’ve got some guys that have transferred that have already had productive years for us last year, that are here this year, technically have another year next year, if they wanted it as well, so it’s a fantastic benefit.”
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An under-recruited prospect, Geer signed with the Orange as a three-star prospect in the 2021 class.
He was considered the No. 1044 overall prospect, No. 83 defensive lineman, and No. 13 Palmetto State prospect in his class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, which averages the rankings from the major recruiting services.
Geer and the Gamecocks report to campus right after Memorial Day to get ready for summer workouts to begin.
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