Shane Beamer isn’t sugarcoating it - South Carolina’s struggles to land high school running backs in back-to-back recruiting cycles is a real concern. But don’t expect the Gamecocks to suddenly start throwing big money around in the transfer portal to fix it.
Speaking on 107.5 The Game this week, Beamer acknowledged the issue head-on. “That can’t happen,” he said of missing out on high school backs two years in a row. And he’s right - in today’s college football landscape, where depth is everything and injuries are inevitable, having just three scholarship running backs on the roster is a razor-thin margin.
That’s where things get tricky. The Gamecocks aren’t necessarily in the market for a flashy, high-priced transfer to come in and take over the backfield.
Beamer made it clear: they like the guys they already have. In fact, they more than like them - they believe in them.
“We’re fired up about Matthew Fuller, Jawarn Howell, and Isaiah Augustave,” Beamer said, pointing to a trio of backs he believes can carry the load in the SEC. Augustave, a summer transfer, brings some added juice to the group, while Fuller and Howell have shown enough for the staff to feel confident in their potential.
So what’s the plan? It’s not about finding a superstar - it’s about building out the room.
Beamer’s focus is on adding depth and raising the level of competition, not chasing a headline name in the portal. “Would it be nice if a dynamic guy wanted to come, relatively cheap?
Yeah,” he admitted. “But do we need to go out and spend a ton of money and go get a dude at running back, necessarily?
I don’t feel that way.”
That’s a measured approach, and it speaks to a broader strategy. South Carolina isn’t just reacting to a short-term need - they’re trying to build sustainable depth, the kind that can carry a team through the grind of an SEC season. And that means being strategic with resources, especially in the ever-shifting world of NIL and the transfer portal.
But Beamer also knows that roster planning in this era is a moving target. “You’re basing these presumed needs off what you think your roster is going to look like in 2026,” he said.
And that’s the challenge - players are already announcing their intentions to enter the portal, even though the window doesn’t officially open for another couple of weeks. A lot can change between now and mid-January.
Still, there’s optimism inside the building. Beamer says the players understand what’s at stake and what kind of opportunity is ahead.
“Our guys know what a great chance we have to have a really good team next season,” he said. “There’s a lot of guys really excited about that and want to be a part of it.”
So while the Gamecocks may not be making a splashy move at running back, don’t mistake that for complacency. Beamer and his staff are working the margins, looking to strengthen the foundation of the roster without compromising the identity they’re building. It’s a calculated approach - and one that could pay off if the current trio in the backfield lives up to the staff’s belief.