What is South Carolina looking for in the transfer portal? These are the priorities

Right now for South Carolina, the transfer portal is a one-way avenue. It’s like that crypto investment you put in during the COVID pandemic, taking so much while not producing anything … yet.

The transfer portal (so far) has claimed 16 South Carolina football players. Perhaps soon, it could become 17. A report from On3 Wednesday stated that South Carolina running back Mario Anderson plans to enter the transfer portal, but there has been no official word.

According to GamecockCentral and On3, South Carolina will host Arkansas transfer tailback Rocket Sanders and Miami transfer back Don Chaney Jr. (whose father was a USC receiver in the 1990s) on visits this weekend.

Sanders would be a home run for the Gamecocks. Though he was limited for much of last season with a knee injury, he ran for nearly 1,500 yards in 2022 and has proven he can be one of the best running backs in the SEC. If Anderson does indeed leave, Sanders is probably an upgrade.

In any case, South Carolina has plenty of holes to fill and, day by day, we get a better idea of where Shane Beamer and his staff’s priorities are.

Because this is happening so quickly, the best way of determining who has interest from South Carolina is who tweets (or posts on X) they received an offer from South Carolina. So it’s not the most-methodical gauge.

With many players wrapped up in trying to pick a new college in about a week — or, perhaps, because this is their second (or third) go-around in the recruitment process — they feel less inclined to post to social media about it. Guys like Sanders and Chaney haven’t shared anything about an offer.

Case in point: With quarterback Spencer Rattler declaring for the NFL Draft and backups Tanner Bailey and Colten Gauthier entering the transfer portal, the Gamecocks currently have just two quarterbacks on their roster. (Current commit Dante Reno is expected to sign in a few weeks.)

Yet, no current transfer quarterback has announced they’ve received an offer from South Carolina. Does that mean Beamer and offensive coordinator Dowell Loggains haven’t met with and offered a single quarterback? Maybe, but unlikely.

In any case, we can make inferences based upon what we know.

Gamecock portal targets

Based upon the list compiled by TheBigSpur, South Carolina has offered 18 from the transfer portal. Here’s how that breaks down by position:

WR: 6

TE: 2

OL: 4

DL: 2

LB: 2

DB: 2

Those numbers are the bare minimum. But we can treat this like every political poll in the world and take our limited data and extrapolate it out.

What we know is this: South Carolina really wants wide receivers and offensive linemen. That is the focus, it seems.

The offensive linemen are the most fascinating because every school and every fan base in the country wants more at the position. They are the silver of the transfer portal, not quite as valuable as gold (the quarterbacks), but worthy of stockpiling. Problem is: South Carolina probably can’t land the most coveted ones.

So, the Gamecocks are striving to get experienced offensive linemen in the portal. Guys who not just have played a bunch of games, but who are older, who have been in a college nutrition and weight program for a few years. Guys like Nick Gargiulo, an unknown fifth-year lineman from Yale who transferred to USC last year and started right away.

So far, South Carolina has offered Southern Mississippi OL Gerquan Scott (going to be a redshirt senior), UTEP’s Justin Mayers (redshirt senior), San Jose State’s Fernando Carmona (redshirt sophomore, but started 11 games this season) and Michigan State’s Kevin Wigenton (redshirt junior, played in every game).

As for the receivers, South Carolina has a lot of work to do, with four of their best receivers — Xavier Legette (off to the NFL), Ahmarean Brown (entered NFL Draft), Antwane “Juice” Wells (transfer portal) and O’Mega Blake (transfer portal) — leaving Columbia.

A major possibility is Vanderbilt transfer Jayden McGowan, a Laurens native who has confirmed to The State that he will be on an official visit to South Carolina this weekend.

Joining McGowan, Sanders and Chaney this weekend, according to GamecockCentral, is WR Cyrus Allen (Louisiana Tech), WR Jared Brown (Coastal Carolina), TE Tyler Neville (Harvard), DL DeAndre Jules (Pitt), DB Gerald Kilgore (Tennessee Tech // brother of US DB Jalon Kilgore) and Scott, the Southern Miss offensive line transfer.

Outside of Sanders, there isn’t much name recognition. But then again, few knew of Wells when he jumped from James Madison to South Carolina two years ago.

After giving so many names to the transfer portal, it shouldn’t be long before the Gamecocks start pulling some out.