South Carolina Football: Shane Beamer blasts new rule change
By Kevin Miller
Earlier this offseason, the NCAA unexpectedly dropped news of some sweeping recruiting rules changes, and South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer was not thrilled with at least one of the major changes. When asked about several hot-button topics around college football like the transfer portal, gambling investigations, and the rules changes, Beamer provided some harsh criticism for the NCAA.
The biggest rule change that caught the ire of the South Carolina football headman was the new allowance for high school and junior college prospects to take as many official visits as they like (the previous official visit limit was five). Football recruits will still be limited to just one official visit per school (two official visits per school for basketball recruits), but official visits will not be limited other than that.
Many coaches do not like the new rule, and a seemingly annoyed Beamer talked about it while addressing Gamecock fans in Aiken during his Welcome Home Tour. Ben Portnoy of The State Newspaper in South Carolina reported on Beamer’s reaction.
“That one [new rule allowing players to take unlimited official visits] kind of came out of nowhere. There wasn’t a whole lot of discussion…about that one.”
In case the fans in Aiken couldn’t tell from his tone and demeanor, Beamer added, “I’m not a fan of the unlimited official visits.”
Beamer and other coaches have brought up several concerns with the new rule. Prospects overwhelming themselves with too many suitors, families taking advantage of official visit schools, students missing too many (high school) school days, and athletic department budgets and schedules getting more and more difficult to organize are just a few of these concerns.
It is not quite clear how this rule change will affect transfer portal visits.