South Carolina Football: Gamecocks pick up a commitment from big-bodied offensive lineman

South Carolina football coach Shane Beamer has sent out two #WelcomeHome commitment posts on Twitter/X in the last 24 hours.

The first turned out to be former Oregon and Auburn quarterback Robby Ashford who will enter the Gamecock quarterback room with the opportunity to compete with LaNorris Sellers for the QB1 job.

The second #WelcomeHome was announced just a few minutes after Ashford's reveal, and a couple hours later, that player went public with his pledge.

Kamaar Bell, an offensive lineman who played at Auburn and Florida Atlantic, will be a South Carolina Gamecock this fall.

A former 4-star prospect out of Georgia, Bell spent two seasons at Auburn (taking a traditional redshirt in 2019 and the "Covid redshirt" in 2020) before playing three seasons at Florida Atlantic. He had been a primary starter at guard for the Owls the past three seasons, including being part of one of just nine offensive line groups around the country who started the same five players each game of the regular season.

As a player, Bell is a strong-bodied interior player (6'3", 325 pounds) who has shown remarkable durability as a collegiate lineman. That trait is appealing to a South Carolina football team that struggled with offensive line injuries so badly in 2023 that they were forced to ask backup tight ends to play tackle at practice at times.

Bell will provide the Gamecocks with another experienced body to battle for a spot in the two-deep in Coach Teasley's room. USC has also added North Carolina Central transfer Torricelli Simpkins and Oklahoma defection Aaryn Parks through the transfer portal.

Next year's offensive line picture is an interesting one. The most talented players are the youngest as Josiah Thompson, Kam Pringle, Blake Franks, Tree Babalade, Tro Baugh, Markee Anderson, and Jatavius Shivers are all in their first or second year of college football. There are also a slew of veterans like Simpkins, Parks, Bell, Vershon Lee, Trai Jones, Cason Henry, Ryan Brubaker, Jaxon Hughes, Ni Mansell, and Jakai Moore (though, there have been rumors that Moore is not returning for a 6th year of eligibility).