How South Carolina’s Shane Beamer feels about transfer portal’s shorter spring window

For the first time since its inception in October 2018, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer can breathe easy about the transfer portal — at least for now.

The second of the NCAA’s transfer windows lasted two weeks and closed on April 30. That means players can no longer enter the transfer portal and be eligible to play during the 2023 season. And while players who graduate can still enter the portal and be immediately eligible at any time, South Carolina’s roster should be largely settled entering the summer.

“Last year at this time there was talk about this window going until May,” Beamer said at a Gamecock Club event on Monday in Columbia. “It’s kind of like the old expression ‘out of sight, out of mind,’ because guys would be home right now and they’d be out training different places, and I’m not around them and that’s tough. If a guy is gonna transfer, he knows by the end of spring practice. He doesn’t need the whole month of May to know that.”

The Gamecocks continued to mine the portal for talent as the calendar flipped to May — and with good reason. South Carolina still has legitimate holes at both running back and defensive end thanks, in part, to the portal.

The Gamecocks want to use the portal to “add depth everywhere,” Beamer said. “At some point you run out of scholarships, but we have scholarships available right now. As long as we do, we’re going to continue trying to make our roster better.”

The Gamecocks had Syracuse transfer defensive end Jatius Greer — who played his high school football at Belton-Honea Path in South Carolina — and Notre Dame running back Logan Diggs for visits over the weekend.

Those visits come after what South Carolina lost to the transfer portal during the first window that lasted 45 days. The Gamecocks saw leading rusher MarShawn Lloyd head to Southern Cal after entering the portal on Dec. 12. Starting defensive ends Gilber Edmond (Florida State) and Jordan Burch (Oregon) also departed the program the program in December and January, respectively.

“I like where we are today,” Beamer said. “If the season started today with who’s on our team, I’d feel great about it. But if we have the opportunity to add some other people down the stretch, which we’re trying to do, we will.”

South Carolina’s running back room is still unsettled, though it’s in less desperate depth need than the defensive end spot. Juju McDowell is back in the fold along with signing Newberry College transfer Mario Anderson, who was a finalist for the Harlan Hill trophy in 2022. The Gamecocks have also experimented with receiver Dakereon Joyner at tailback during spring practices and bring in four-star signee Dontavius Braswell this summer.

USC, though, is deathly thin at defensive end. Seventh-year senior Jordan Strachan is expected to anchor the group, along with sixth-year returner Tyreek Johnson. Defensive lineman Tonka Hemingway has some versatility to play inside and outside, while freshman Bryan Thomas was forced into action in spurts down the stretch.

South Carolina lost 11 scholarship players to the portal in the window that spanned December and much of January. The Gamecocks lost three from the roster in the spring portal window.

“I get why the one in the winter is longer,” Beamer explained of the transfer portal windows. “You’ve got a lot going on — bowl games, signing classes in the high school ranks. Guys aren’t going to bowl games and want to go into the portal. You’ve got some guys that are in bowl games that want to finish the season. … It’s really, really, really hard in December and January because that window is so long.”

South Carolina 2023 transfer class

• RB Mario Anderson, Newberry
  
  

• TE Nick Elksnis, Florida
  
  

• TE Trey Knox, Arkansas
  
  

• TE Joshua Simon, Western Kentucky
  
  

• OL Nick Gargiulo, Yale
  
  

• OL Sidney Fugar, Western Illinois

• LB Jaron Willis, Ole Miss

• WR Eddie Lewis, Memphis