Tracking the Gameco*cks' additions, subtractions as portal window closes (2024)

COLUMBIA— It never truly ends. Not now, with college football by the day becoming more like the NFL.

But in terms of roster construction for the next step— spring practice— Tuesday was a beachhead. The latest transfer portal window, the one that opened at the end of the regular season, closed on Jan. 2.

“I think I saw it, it’s 1,400, some crazy number of guys in the portal. You’re going to lose some, for different reasons, some that are expected, some that are surprises,” South Carolina coach Shane Beamer said. “We may lose some more. We hope we don’t.

“You realize this is part of it, but you got to keep your core group intact.”

The Gameco*cks have mostly done that since the curtain fell on a disappointing 5-7 season, even through another defection when linebacker Grayson "Pup" Howard entered late Tuesday.

Howard, credited with being the "player recruiter" of the last signing class, has constantly been championed as a guy who loved everything about being a Gameco*ck. He even got a jump on other early enrollees by practicing with the Gameco*cks for the Gator Bowl last year.

Howard didn't start and had 19 tackles in 11 games. Yet he was going to provide crucial depth, especially with fellow linebacker Stone Blanton leaving.

Now he's gone. With so many others.

USC is one of the nation’s leaders in the total number of players that have transferred since, with 21 members of the 2023 roster leaving (including Xzavier McLeod, who Beamer dismissed in October). Of the other 20, 15 either had not played or were not expected to play major roles.

The other five, though …

They’re major losses. For production’s sake, and for the way they left. Juice Wells and Mario Anderson skedaddled after saying they would be back. Jaylen Nichols and Blanton had at least agreed to new NIL deals before announcing they were gone.

They all would have started had they returned (along with kicker Mitch Jeter, who always wanted to play his fifth year somewhere else and got an opportunity at Notre Dame). It’s a bad break, but Beamer knew he couldn’t just stand by, twisting his hands and bemoaning the lack of loyalty.

He had to get busy adding from the portal. The Gameco*cks got eight players (and a ninth transfer, defensive lineman Jerome Simmons, came from junior college). And while the portal is now closed to players wanting to enter it, anybody currently in it can still commit to a school and be there for spring ball.

The Gameco*cks are still heavily in the mix for several of those players. Others may still leave, since graduate students can still enter the portal at any time. And as long as any player let his school know before the end of Tuesday that he wanted to enter, the school had 48 hours to submit the request.

Yet there’s a strong idea of who will be on the field once spring practice begins.

“The recruiting class is great but you got to be able to keep your roster intact,” Beamer said. “I think it’s proven, the teams that are able to keep their roster intact year to year have an advantage going into the next season just because it’s not starting over in so many ways.”

The biggest addition to the Gameco*cks is former Arkansas standout Raheim “Rocket” Sanders, a running back who piled up over 1,400 yards two seasons ago before his 2023 was mostly shelved due to injury. USC also added North Texas’ Oscar Adaway and S.C. State’s Jawarn Howell in a dynamic answer to Anderson’s defection.

Sanders is a monstrous get, especially considering how many other schools wanted him. Beamer said that he felt good about getting Sanders to visit Columbia, but also knew schools from his home-state Florida were in the hunt, as well as the other schools in the SEC. Everybody in the country knew about this guy.

Yet USC has offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains, who had worked with Sanders at Arkansas. Sanders is also close with Jamil Walker, a former member of the Arkansas strength staff now at USC.

Beamer was on another recruiting visit in Washington D.C. when Sanders called. Beamer frantically tried to FaceTime Sanders. No dice; he tried it again, and still no dice.

Dreading what could be happening, Beamer finally got a call back on his way to the airport.

“He reached out and said he wanted to be a Gameco*ck,” Beamer said. “That was a pretty special moment in D.C.”

The Gameco*cks also addressed needs at edge rusher (Kyle Kennard, Georgia Tech), defensive back (Gerald Kilgore, Tennessee Tech, brother of current safety Jalon Kilgore) and defensive line (DeAndre Jules, Pitt). They’re still looking for a receiver, a quarterback and offensive linemen (and now linebackers), and wouldn’t turn down anyone at any spot they think can help.

It’s about restoring depth and finding potential starters in spring ball, and then finding more to (potentially) replace more losses.

Another 15-day window opens on April 16.