What South Carolina AD Jeremiah Donati said on 107.5 The Game on Thursday (Part Two)

University of South Carolina Athletics Director Jeremiah Donati was a guest on 107.5 The Game with Jay Phillips and Elijah Campbell on Thursday afternoon. He discussed an array of topics surrounding the Gamecocks.

Below is a transcript of the second half of Donati’s appearance with minor, insignificant edits for clarity. (You can check out the first half here.)

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Q: One of the things, Jeremiah–let’s jump into it–that is going to really help you long-term and the entire University’s athletics department long-term is revenue enhancement at Williams-Brice. And I know you can’t just snap your fingers and create luxury boxes and other types of premium seating, but that is certainly at the forefront of what you want to do. You sent out some renderings and some different things. You’ve got some first and second-phase approvals. Tell us from your perspective about how that’s going, and as soon as that–basically, I guess, Monday after the Clemson game?–you’ll probably be ready to jump in with both feet, right?

Jeremiah Donati: Well, you did say Monday after the Clemson game, but I’m hoping it’s actually later than that because that would mean we’re hosting the CFP Game. But to your point, yes, as soon as the season’s over, we, if all goes well, would be working on the first stage of it.

And you know, as you mentioned, we did put out the renderings, there will be much more to come there. We were really excited about what we’re seeing evolve as the tenants of this project, and the four or five big things we’re trying to accomplish. You just mentioned the West Side premium, which is, obviously, a big part of this for sure. We need to significantly upgrade those experiences. And there’s a revenue component there.

But then you started saying, ‘Okay, how do we touch all the fans, including the students?’ And I think one of the things I’m really excited about is enhancing the student section. When you talk about the club underneath their space, the new video boards, they’ll be visible from the student section and to most of the fans who will be in the south end zone. Just imagine Williams-Brice Stadium with those components. It’ll be pretty neat.

And then, of course, you know, the little stuff: restrooms and concessions, relocating the visitors’ locker room, so we don’t have their buses out in front of our stadium. You know, all those will add to a better experience. They will all add to more efficiency within the stadium. When you have an inefficient operation, it drives up costs, it leads to delays, and it causes a lot of frustrations with our fans. So, we want to help solve for all those things. So, we’re trying to accomplish a lot.

You know, it’s a very interesting time in our world as you hear about these tariffs and these costs. But my experience has been that it’s never a better time than to do it right now. These costs, they always go up. I’ve never–and again, I haven’t done this forever–but my experience has been that it doesn’t get cheaper to do these things. And so the time is really now. We’ve got a tremendous amount of momentum. We have got a lot of donors that are ready to jump in. So, you’re just really excited. Hopefully, you can hear the excitement in my voice. I think it’s a good thing–it’ll be a great thing–for not just the athletics department, but for the school, for the city, and for the state.

The other thing too is…this will also invite more guests to the city of Columbia. And what I mean by that is outside events and concerts and those types of things. You know, it’s our job at this university to literally and figuratively invite people to this campus, and this has to be a big part of that.

Q: Jeremiah, one of my favorite things about your background is that you’re also a hooper. Real hoopers recognize other real hoopers, and I can appreciate that. And one of those big money makers–I mean, let’s face it–is the NCAA men’s basketball tournament. That is a billion-with a B–dollar TV contract with the NCAA. The men’s basketball team last year was not where we wanted to be either. But this is a coach (Lamont Paris) who has gotten them there before. How would you kind of assess maybe the changes to the program this offseason and giving them all the help that they can get to make sure that you guys can get a chunk of that pie, too? Because this is a very delicious, lucrative pie.

Jeremiah Donati: Yeah, well, I’ll tell you what: I mean, there are some days some will do a case study on this kind of this “last call” in the old NIL world about what you saw with the men’s basketball numbers. I mean, it was unbelievable. So, you know, we were in the middle of that, and we provided the team with a lot of resources, and he put them to good use. I’m really excited about the guys we’ve got coming in, the guys we have got coming back.

You know, obviously, we would have loved to have had Collin (Murray-Boyles) come back, but when you’ve got a guy who’s going to be a cinch to be upper-first-round draft pick, you’ve got to wish him well and give him a hug on the way out the door. Because that’s what’s best for him. That’s why he came here. Candidly, when he goes on and does well, that’s going to open the door for Lamont to recruit others because he has shown he can develop those guys.

So, one of the things is that Lamont made it look a little easier the year before. And then, as the game kind of changed, we probably didn’t provide enough resources on that NIL front. So that was the big thing. We needed to make a commitment to the program to do that. As we did that, the market kind of exploded. So, we absolutely did more than we thought we would need to do. And we like the guys we brought in. So, it was a wild offseason in the sport of men’s basketball. And, you know, I think I speak for Lamont and others, that this new world, if you will, NIL will continue to be important. But, those contracts will be paid primarily through the rev-share component. I think we’re ready to kind of make that adjustment.

Q: Let me ask you one that’s been top of mind for a lot of football fans and what your role might be in it: Rahsul Faison is working hard to get one more year of eligibility with Gamecock football. He has hired a big-time attorney, Darren Heitner, to help him out with that. We had Coach Beamer on the program less than two weeks ago, and he was still really frustrated by no answer. What more can you tell us about where that is in terms of the NCAA decision-making process?

Jeremiah Donati: We don’t have a final decision yet. I think I’ve seen cases–or I’ve seen circumstances–that were not nearly as extreme as his, that were approved. So, I think that’s why you can sense the frustration in Coach Beamer’s voice and even in mine. So, we still remain optimistic. I mean, the young man loves it here. He’s dying to play, and he’s a great young man. We were all really excited about him being here. He certainly deserves a chance. And when you look at the circumstances surrounding his case and situation, it’s just kind of an easy one, to be honest. So, I think that’s what you can hear, going back to the frustration in Shane’s voice. We thought this was going to be done, you know, months ago. So, you know, we’re going to keep fighting a good fight. And you mentioned that he’s got an attorney behind him who knows the game and knows this stuff pretty well. And so we feel good about that, and we remain optimistic, but, you know, I’m just frustrated for him. I mean, he’s a young man who came here and wants to continue his career in a Gamecock uniform. And so, to kind of be in this limbo is hard. It’s hard for young people. And so I hope for his sake–for all of our sakes–we can come to a good decision here as soon as possible. We still have a little time. I mean, this is not something that we want to drag down into the season, obviously. But, you know, you’ve got another month, so let’s get to the bottom of this.

Q: Your family, I know, was going to be delayed in coming from Texas over here with you as they finish up the school year. So, are the Donatis now settling in nicely to the capital city?

Jeremiah Donati: It’s funny you asked. So, my wife just sent me some pictures from our house in Fort Worth, and it’s completely empty. The moving trucks are literally on the way to the great city of Columbia. So, at this time next week, they’ll all be here. But I really appreciate you asking Jay. We’re all excited there. We’re all kind of champing at the bit to be back together and spend the summer together. So, not quite yet, but we’re rounding third base, heading to home to use the baseball analogy.

Q: Whether you name them or not is up to you, but have you found a couple of the places that you like to go have a nice meal, and are settling into South Carolina cuisine and such?

Jeremiah Donati: Oh, absolutely. When we have a little time together next time I’m in studio, I’ll name names. But I’ve been pleasantly surprised. One thing I was told before I even came here is that the food scene was pretty cool and that I’d be impressed. I’ve been that and more. So, I’m loving it here. It’s been great. The six months I’ve been here have absolutely flown by, and it’s kind of funny to think it’s already mid-June. But just the city and the people of Columbia have been great, and so I’m just very grateful and appreciative to all of them.

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