Shane Beamer: ‘We’re going to be playing a lot of freshmen’

Shane Beamer plans on seeing a large portion of his 2023 Gamecocks recruiting class suiting up on the field this season.

The third-year head coach recently joined basketball analyst Debbie Antonelli – a South Carolina resident – on her “Nothing But Net” podcast, where he discussed the need for some youngsters to step up this season.

“We’re going to be playing a lot of freshmen,” Beamer said during the appearance. “I mean, I think literally at every position, we’re going to be playing at least one true freshman this upcoming season.”

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USC did lose some valuable players from a team that won 8 games and upset Tennessee and Clemson to end the 2022 season.

Among the defections: Three starting offensive linemen, an entire tight end room, the top two rushers, two starting corners, two starting linebackers, two starting EDGES, a starting defensive tackle, and two starter/key reserve receivers.

“We’ve got a really good team, I think, but we’re still, our depth isn’t where it needs to be
in some spots,” Beamer explained. “We’ve still got some depth issues that we need to continue to get better at.”

Beamer has publicly stated that incoming four-star freshman running back DJ Braswell is “going to have to play” this season.

There are potentially plenty more in that category, too.

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Many other members of the Gamecocks’ 2023 recruiting class that ranked 16th nationally according to the On3 Industry Team Rankings are already on campus and went through spring drills with the team.

“(I) learned that I’m excited about our newcomers,” Beamer told Antonelli. “We brought in a bunch of true freshmen that were here for spring practice that graduated high school early.”

Whether it’s some players that had the opportunity to go through spring or others that are arriving for the summer, Beamer knows that he and his assistants will have a quick turnaround time to get some guys prepared.

“It’ll be a challenge how quickly those guys can get ready to help us,” said Beamer. “Without a doubt, we’ve got to do a good job as coaches. Now, let’s see how quickly we can become the very best that we can be going into game one, and then as the season goes as well.”

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