Shane Beamer addresses where South Carolina's roster stands amid House settlement uncertainty

The House Settlement is set to shake up college athletics. In particular, it is set to shake up how rosters are constructed in college sports. Despite uncertainty about when it will land and what it’s going to look like exactly, South Carolina Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer is getting ready for all possibilities.

Roster limits are expected to be coming with the House Settlement. However, it’s still unclear just how the details are going to work themselves out. So, Beamer has prepped South Carolina to have fewer players than normal, giving them the ability to add without needing to cut down the roster from that former size.

“If you take what our numbers were last year, what we were allowed at this point, we would be below that,” Shane Beamer said. “So, even if they said, ‘Okay, you can go back to what it was in 2024,’ we’ll be fine because we’re actually under that right now.”

The biggest way to do that for Beamer has to be selective with roster spots. Limiting walk-ons is part of that. After all, those would also likely be the first players to be on the move if roster cuts were necessary.

“We were very intentional and deliberate about the people that we added to our program this season,” Beamer said. “Meaning walk-ons. We had a walk-on tryout. Walk-ons that we recruited out of high school. We really had to be sure about a guy before we promised him a roster spot because of that. So, because of the revenue sharing and the roster limits that are coming.”

The House Settlement proposed roster sizes of 105 for a college football team. However, Judge Claudia Wilken, who is in charge of approving the settlement, previously said she wouldn’t approve of the settlement without changes to the roster limit language. That’s led to attorneys agreeing on a plan to phase in roster limits.

Under the agreement, athletes who have lost their spots can have them reinstated. Those athletes are now exempt from roster limits, regardless of whether they transfer or stay at their new school. Judge Wilken still needs to officially approve the settlement.

“So, whatever they say, we’re in a good place. If they say we have to get down to 105 like they initially thought, well, we have a plan for that. If they say, you can be at 110, we have a plan for that,” Beamer said. “And if they say you can go back to what you were in 2024, then we have a plan for that too.”

Several sports beyond football are also going to be affected. Under the current House Settlement, proposed rosters include football (105), men’s and women’s basketball (15), baseball (34), men’s and women’s soccer (28), softball (25), and volleyball (18).