Shane Beamer hoping 'fireworks are just getting started' on recruiting trail
To say the past weekend for South Carolina football was a rousing success might be a bit of an understatement.
The Gamecocks, fresh off their first official visit weekend of the summer, picked up four commitments while three other official visitors set commitment dates.
A few days removed from the whirlwind weekend, Shane Beamer broke down some of the excitement.
“It’s great. And you guys know it’s all leading up to that point all the work we’ve done since we’ve gotten here with these kids. It was really good. Any time we’re able to get these guys on our camps we feel good about our chances to get them,” he said at Tuesday’s Welcome Home stop.
“They get around us as people, see what this program’s about, see what Columbia’s about, see what our university’s about. That’s exactly what happen this weekend.”
South Carolina also picked up commitments from receiver Kelton Henderson (No. 382 nationally), tight end Connor Cox (627) and safety Cam Upshaw (971).
Safety Jalon Kilgore (372), quarterback Dylan Lonergan (86) and Dontavius Braswell (301) all will announce their decisions over the next month.
Beamer can’t talk about any of the prospects publicly yet. But it’s easy to feel some of the recruiting momentum in the Gamecocks’ program.
“Because so much of it is on social media nowadays,” Beamer said, “when a school is having success or prospects are visiting your campus and talking about it on social media other prospects can’t help but notice.”
Blue-chip receiver Tyler Williams is visiting South Carolina this week, an extension of some of the recruiting momentum this summer.
On3 considers Williams the No. 55 player in the country and a four-star prospect.
“We have somebody on campus here the next couple of days that I don’t think initially was planning on coming. But one of his teammates visited us, was blown away by it and told him about it,” Beamer said. “Now he’s coming to visit. Certainly I think word of mouth or any time someone has a good experience somewhere people become intrigued by that.”
There are still a few big official visit weekends coming up this month. Other high-level prospects are coming to Columbia as well with South Carolina hoping to land a few.
This is why Beamer is hoping this weekend was only the beginning.
“We had a great time. We had some great players in this weekend and had some initial momentum that started Sunday that will continue,” he said. “I’m hoping the fireworks are just getting started in the month of June.”
