South Carolina's Shane Beamer says Jaishawn Barham flip wasn't a surprise

District Heights (Md.) St. Frances Academy four-star EDGE Jaishawn Barham committed Saturday to South Carolina.

But he signed his National Letter of Intent on Wednesday to Maryland.

Barham is the No. 157 prospect in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He is ranked as the nation’s 12th-best linebacker and third-best player from the state of Maryland.

His decision took a lot of people outside of those programs by suprise — but not Gamecocks head coach Shane Beamer.

He was very honest and revealing during his signing day press conference about what went down with Barham.

“You’d have to ask the young man that you’re referring to,” Beamer said. “I know — I can’t say that it’s a surprise. When this particular young man committed on Saturday, about 10 minutes later I got a phone call from somebody in the know up there that said ‘Just so you know, it’s all part of the plan. He’s going to flip on Wednesday and go to Maryland.’ So I can’t sit here and say that I was shocked. When you’re on the phone with a young man as recent, as late as 10:30, 11 o’clock last night and he and the mom are telling you how they’re so thankful they found a home — how appreciative they are of how we do things, how they knew that South Carolina was the place for him on his very first visit to South Carolina and how excited they are for the future, you feel pretty good about things.”