What a night.
The day began with a pledge from Mississippi LB Stone Blanton, which was already good enough to create some buzz in Gamecock Nation.
Then Shane Beamer dropped a #WelcomeHome trifecta that's going to rattle the college football landscape.
One is yet to be announced, so let's turn our attention to the two that went public simultaneously tonight.
Our earliest reporting on these two indicated that Oklahoma transfer TE Austin Stogner and QB Spencer Rattler were looking at heading to a common destination if at all possible. Shane Beamer had a relationship with both dating back to his time as an assistant in Norman and parlayed that, plus strong recruiting, into eventually landing both.
Stogner made an official visit to Columbia that went extremely well, and Beamer followed that up with an in-home visit in Stogner's home state of Texas last week. Stogner also considered Iowa State and Ohio State and visited both after entering the portal, but feedback was consistently good for the Gamecocks. We were told on Sunday night that Stogner was going to have some final conversations with family, but that he seemed on board with the Gamecocks. As it turned out, he didn't wait much longer to pull the trigger.
This 6-foot-6, 255-pounder will be able to step in right away and fill the Nick Muse void as a two-way player; Stogner can stand out as an in-line blocker but's also showed pass-catching prowess at the college level. He'll bring a veteran presence and talent to the tight end room right away.
Rattler, as we mentioned previously, participated in a Zoom call with the Carolina staff last week. Our understanding is that Rattler was engaged and asked lots of quality questions during that session. The opportunity was there for both sides, and everything lined up.
The talent here speaks for itself. In his first action as a starter in 2020, Rattler was a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist. He's a dual-threat with ample arm talent and playmaking ability. Many folks are viewing Rattler as a one-and-done, and perhaps that ends up being the case. It should be noted, however, that he will arrive in Columbia technically with three seasons of eligibility remaining. Rattler was in the 2019 class and preserved his redshirt that season, and then 2020 was a free year for every college football player. The talent here is undeniable, and many observers we have spoken with believe that Shane Beamer's personality is going to be a really good fit as Rattler's head coach in helping him reach his potential.
Here's another thing that stands out: Shane Beamer had the connection to both of these guys, so a high involvement level on his part makes sense. Still, Beamer deserves full credit for orchestrating this and making it happen. He was the point man on these recruitments and successfully navigated both situations.
By the way, we are told that multiple prospects from the 2023 class have already reached out to the Carolina staff expressing excitement about the Gamecocks landing Rattler at QB.
The day began with a pledge from Mississippi LB Stone Blanton, which was already good enough to create some buzz in Gamecock Nation.
Then Shane Beamer dropped a #WelcomeHome trifecta that's going to rattle the college football landscape.
One is yet to be announced, so let's turn our attention to the two that went public simultaneously tonight.
Our earliest reporting on these two indicated that Oklahoma transfer TE Austin Stogner and QB Spencer Rattler were looking at heading to a common destination if at all possible. Shane Beamer had a relationship with both dating back to his time as an assistant in Norman and parlayed that, plus strong recruiting, into eventually landing both.
Stogner made an official visit to Columbia that went extremely well, and Beamer followed that up with an in-home visit in Stogner's home state of Texas last week. Stogner also considered Iowa State and Ohio State and visited both after entering the portal, but feedback was consistently good for the Gamecocks. We were told on Sunday night that Stogner was going to have some final conversations with family, but that he seemed on board with the Gamecocks. As it turned out, he didn't wait much longer to pull the trigger.
This 6-foot-6, 255-pounder will be able to step in right away and fill the Nick Muse void as a two-way player; Stogner can stand out as an in-line blocker but's also showed pass-catching prowess at the college level. He'll bring a veteran presence and talent to the tight end room right away.
Rattler, as we mentioned previously, participated in a Zoom call with the Carolina staff last week. Our understanding is that Rattler was engaged and asked lots of quality questions during that session. The opportunity was there for both sides, and everything lined up.
The talent here speaks for itself. In his first action as a starter in 2020, Rattler was a Davey O'Brien Award semifinalist. He's a dual-threat with ample arm talent and playmaking ability. Many folks are viewing Rattler as a one-and-done, and perhaps that ends up being the case. It should be noted, however, that he will arrive in Columbia technically with three seasons of eligibility remaining. Rattler was in the 2019 class and preserved his redshirt that season, and then 2020 was a free year for every college football player. The talent here is undeniable, and many observers we have spoken with believe that Shane Beamer's personality is going to be a really good fit as Rattler's head coach in helping him reach his potential.
Here's another thing that stands out: Shane Beamer had the connection to both of these guys, so a high involvement level on his part makes sense. Still, Beamer deserves full credit for orchestrating this and making it happen. He was the point man on these recruitments and successfully navigated both situations.
By the way, we are told that multiple prospects from the 2023 class have already reached out to the Carolina staff expressing excitement about the Gamecocks landing Rattler at QB.
