South Carolina football: Gamecocks could benefit from Arizona State investigation

Could South Carolina football be a beneficiary of ASU’s recruiting violations?

Herm Edwards and the Arizona State football program are in hot water with the NCAA, having recently gone under investigation to see whether or not impermissible contact was made to prospects during the COVID-19 dead period. The school is looking into the allegations, but it could spell bad news for the Sun Devils in regards to its 2022 recruiting cycle.

While it’s big news around college football, how could recruiting violations by a team 2,000 miles away from the South Carolina campus have an affect on the Gamecocks?

That all comes back to Anthony Rose, a four-star safety out of Miami, who was once a member of South Carolina’s ’22 class. Rose became Shane Beamer’s first pledge back in February, but opted to re-open his recruitment in May. Following his de-commitment, Rose was thought to be a lean to the Sun Devils, with Arizona State also holding pledges from two other Miami locals, including teammate Jaylin Marshall.

While Rose never pulled the trigger on the Sun Devils, this investigation could influence his ultimate decision. And it could mean good news for the South Carolina football program.

The Gamecocks actually hosted the defensive back a couple of weeks ago as those COVID-19 recruiting restrictions were lifted by the NCAA. The visit went well according to his social media pages.

Should the Gamecocks get Rose back in the boat, their ’22 recruiting class would move up from No. 38 to No. 26 nationally, according to the 24/7 Sports team rankings. The safety would become the third defensive back in the cycle, and the fourth player on the defensive side of the ball.

It will be interesting to see if anything comes from the recruiting allegations, but head coach Shane Beamer certainly wouldn’t complain about getting a second chance with this talented prospect.