South Carolina Football: When does the Transfer Portal reopen?

The transfer portal, NIL, and the one-time free transfer allowance have changed the landscape of modern college sports. The Gamecocks’ athletic department, especially South Carolina football, has been impacted by these new realities.

In some ways, the sport is better off. No longer is a player trapped in a situation completely different than what they signed up for because a coach left. Athletes can also earn money like any other student, exercising their rights in a capitalistic society. College coaches can also fill needs on their roster much quicker with transfers than with high school or junior college players.

In other ways, things are worse than they were previously. Allowing the free transfer (coupled with immediate eligibility and NIL opportunities) without any guidelines has created free agency within college football, and just like in professional free agency, the highest bidder often can woo whichever players they want. Opening the transfer portal has allowed coaches from other schools to contact players, and those who operate outside of the rules (see: most NCAA coaches), have started to contact players in order to convince them to enter the portal.

The transfer portal is not completely without rules, however. Specifically, the primary restriction placed on the portal is when it is officially open. For the 2022-2023 football season, the portal was open from December 5th-January 18th, and it will reopen on April 15th and will stay open through the 30th. Within the rules, a player can only enter the transfer portal and be contacted by coaches from other schools during these windows on the calendar.

Clearly, tampering happens, and NIL can complicate things, but nothing official happens outside of these windows. During the first window, college football was abuzz with players coming and going. South Carolina saw contributors such as MarShawn Lloyd, Jaheim Bell, and Jordan Burch leave the program and potential starters Trey Knox, Nick Gargiulo Mario Anderson, and Eddie Lewis become Gamecocks.

The second transfer portal window is expected to contain smaller amounts of movement, but movement will happen all the same. South Carolina is expected to be in the market for immediate impact players at running back, defensive end, and possibly cornerback.

Because of the reopening dates (April 15th-30th), most teams will be finished with spring practice when the portal reopens. This will make it more difficult for a transfer portal addition to play immediately as they will only have summer and fall practice to acclimate to their new program. However, for the Gamecocks, if they can bring in a player at a position of need, they will do it.

The Gamecocks have had some luck with previous transfer portal players. Nate Adkins, Austin Stogner, and Christian Beal-Smith contributed on offense last season at tight end and running back, and Devonni Reed starter part of the season at safety. The biggest impact from the portal, though, came from quarterback Spencer Rattler and receiver Juice Wells. Rattler and Wells return for the 2023 season with high expectations, and there’s a chance that this year’s portal additions could have a similar impact.

South Carolina football fans should look for Trey Knox, Joshua Simon, Nick Elksnis, Mario Anderson, Nick Gargiulo, Sidney Fugar, and Eddie Lewis to all compete for playing time on offense. Jaron Willis and DeAngelo Gibbs will fight for roles on the Gamecock defense.

With 87 current scholarship football players set to be on the team when summer enrollment begins (according to on3.com’s scholarship tracker), at least two current players on the roster will need to enter the transfer portal to bring the team’s scholarship count to the 85-player limit. Any additional transfer portal additions would require a subsequent defection.

Expect at least one quarterback and one wide receiver to transfer out of the program as 6 quarterbacks and 14 receivers are too many for most rosters. Of note, three defensive freshmen are currently suspended and may never rejoin the program. If they are officially dismissed from the team, their scholarships will not be counted.