South Carolina expecting Drew Tuazama to be ready for season opener
It can be hard for a player to come into a new program and have an immediate impact, especially when that player comes in two weeks before the season starts. But that’s exactly what South Carolina is expecting with Drew Tuazama.
The Gamecocks added the UAB grad transfer over the weekend, and Tuesday Shane Beamer made no bones about how quickly they want Tuazama ready to play a role on this defense.
“Realistically,” Beamer said, “we expect him to play next Saturday night against North Carolina.”
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Tuazama entered the portal after graduating from UAB recently and the Gamecocks quickly made a push to get him on campus.
They used some connections he had within the South Carolina program to help get him to Columbia, and he’ll try and fit right into the system.
“He had a connection with Elijah Davis. They both spent some time at East Mississippi Community College, so they knew each other. He’s from Raleigh originally, so he had connections to the Carolinas,” Beamer said. “And (he) wanted to get back closer to home I believe. Coach (Pete) Lembo and some other of our coaches were familiar with him from high school recruiting in that area as well.”
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Tuazama already had offers from Mississippi State, Florida and other Power 5 programs once he went into the transfer portal but the Gamecocks were able to edge those out.
He entered in the portal, Beamer shot him a direct message and the rest is history.
“He needed to graduate from UAB. And he wasn’t able to graduate until a week or so ago and he graduated,” Beamer said. “The minute he went in the portal, started following him on Twitter and sent him a direct message. He hit me right back and just kind of went from there. I’ll give the kid credit. Once he went into the portal, we started communication and he decided that this is where he wanted to be.
Tuazama hasn’t disappointed in his brief stint at South Carolina.
He arrived on campus and quickly got all of his paperwork done. Tuazama even went straight from a meeting in Beamer’s office to a South Carolina team meeting before even practicing.
“He literally got here late afternoon, got all of his paperwork done, did the stuff he needed to do in the training room and was in my office. And I’m like, ‘Well, we got a team meeting in like five minutes. Want to go?'” Beamer said.
“He was like, Yeah, come on. So he was in there and the team meeting and was full speed ahead. So he’s grateful for the opportunity to be here. He’s a great young man.”
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And South Carolina is going to need him to fit in quickly.
The Gamecocks have depth questions at EDGE and Tuazama is a veteran, experienced player who can help both rushing the passer and stuffing the run.
“He’s a bigger guy so he should help stopping the run,” Bryan Thomas Jr. said. “He’s an older guy so I’m excited to learn some stuff from him, too. It’s great to have him in the room.”
