Episode Transcript
[00:00:00] Gamecocks is brought to you by the Mason jar, New York City. The Mason jar is the official Gamecock bar for the New York City area. Fans and alumni of USC can come by the jar for some great barbecue, cold drinks, and, of course, to watch the Gamecocks in any sport, all while surrounded by South Carolina memorabilia. If you want to get a slice of game day in Columbia, all while in the Big Apple, head to the Mason jar on East 30th street. All right, here we go.
[00:01:12] Episode two four of Cox talking Gamecocks brought to you by the Mason jar, New York City. I am your host, Tim Cox, where I will keep every episode from 18 one to 2001 and hope you all are doing well out there. Gamecock Nation. Hope you all had a lovely week. I feel like we are officially in the time frame where you can just sort of mail it in for the rest of the year. There's always that in between time after Thanksgiving where you don't want to do anything like work wise and things like that. Schoolwork. It's the last thing you want to do, right? But now I feel like you're in that sweet spot where you can really just punt things until after the holidays, which is great. Obviously, if you're taking finals, you can't punt that. So very well wishes out there to anyone taking finals. But for us in the working world, this is our moment.
[00:02:13] It's next year's problem.
[00:02:16] You got a project? Yeah. Now let's circle back after the holidays. We are officially in that time and I love it because you can just sit back, relax, coast ideally low stress. It's just great. And then the sports are cooking, too. We're in that fun time where the NFL is on Saturday, too. Saturday. That just feels right for football. Us college football fans, that's the day you want to watch some football because you can do whatever you want. You don't have to worry about work or anything the next day. But nonetheless, here. It was a very busy week around Gamecock Nation. Even without scores to report, it was looking at the week and I'm like, man, we'll just have to preview a couple of games here. Wonder what all else is going to go on this weekend. Boy, oh, boy, was there action from all different areas of our athletic department. So let's start right into this. Starting with baseball. That's right. We're talking baseball, folks. It's December, but we are going to talk about the yardcocks. The 2024 schedule came out this week and I feel like it is a pretty good schedule. Some exciting highlights here from you all. It is the Clemson series. The neutral site game is at Segra park, so that's exciting. Should feel more like a home game for the Gamecocks there. Now, we do play UNC in Charlotte, which on paper that sounds like a fun matchup. But as we know, playing in know can be sort of iffy for us. So fingers crossed in the Queen city there. But anytime you can play the Tar Heels at a neutral site, it feels like a good time. And I think the Gamecocks in general could use a little redemption from the last time we played the Tar Heels in Charlote. So definitely need to get a w there as far as SEC play is concerned. The Gamecocks host Vandy a M. Arkansas, Kentucky and Georgia, all at Founders park and they will go on the road to play Ole Miss to kick off SEC play. That will be fun way to start things and I'm excited for the know. There's a lot to be hopeful for. The team had a solid year last year, returning some good guys on the know unit, the lineup rather, pitching, especially the starting rotation. It's going to be interesting to see how that shakes up. But of course, as we get closer to the season, I'll do a little bit of a preview what I'm excited for. Maybe we'll bring back Evan from Tito's and chicken like I did last season and already here, it's fun to say we're like, what, month and a half or so, two months from a first pitch. That's really exciting. And then on the football front, it was a huge week from the football team. No shortage of things to talk about from the program this week. Let's start with the schedule release. So the SEC released the schedules for all the teams for this upcoming season, and if you'll remember correctly, this is the first year without the traditional divisions and you're also adding Texas and Oklahoma. So it feels kind of weird to look at the schedule and not see some of our, maybe most of our traditional east rivals, and that's going to take some getting used to. I think it will be exciting to experience different matchups and have the opportunity to travel to more different places, and I think from an SEC standpoint in and of itself, it will drive more excitement. And as just a fan of the game, it's going to be fun watching some of these new matchups. But with that being said, I think there is going to be a little bit of something missing where you don't play the Tennessee's every year, Florida's Georgia. That's going to take some getting used to, but when we do play them, it's going to mean that much more. So without further ado, let's take a look at South Carolina's schedule here. I'm going to read this in order and then share some thoughts about it here. We're opening with old Dominion at home. Then you're at Kentucky, home versus LSU, home versus Akron. Then it's a bye week, home versus Ole Miss, at Alabama. At Oklahoma, bye week, home versus a M. At Vanderbilt, home versus Mizzou, home versus Wafford, and then at Clemson. Now, the first thing that sticks out to me is this absolutely brutal stretch here between the bye weeks. Home versus Ole Miss, at Alabama, at Oklahoma. Yikes.
[00:07:18] That is going to be a tough stretch. Luckily, the Cox are coming off a buy and open up at home. And then at least they can rest up after Oklahoma to buy. But at Alabama and at Oklahoma, big time. Yikes. And then all three of know are teams we don't play, haven't played in a long time. I think going to Norman. That's what I'm talking about. That's going to be fun to watch for any Gamecock fans who make that trip. That's going to be so cool. That's such a historic and fabled place of college football. But when you're looking at the schedule overall, you like off the bat that you got know three cupcakes, if you will, old Dominion, Akron and Wafford.
[00:08:06] And I think it's sort of balanced, right? Like aside from this middle stretch here, you look at the first couple of games here at Kentucky. Week two is very interesting. Home versus LSU. I mean, I don't know what LSU is going to look like post Jaden Daniels. Maybe they're still figuring some things out in the early part of the season. SEC opener, that's going to be a raucous environment. And then in the back stretch here, home versus a m. It's going to be interesting to see what they look like with their new coach. But you love being at home there at Vandy. You feel good about that. And then home versus Mizzou, you really hope you can get over the hump there. But do they continue to have success like they did this season? And then you're at Clemson, which Shane Beamer has proven already he can win, you know, without getting too much in the weeds here. Obviously, you're trying to look at how this shakes out. You feel good about four games with the Cupcakes plus Vandy. So what are some other ones you feel good.
[00:09:07] Mean we have the winning streak against Kentucky. Can you keep that up? I like home versus LSU. That feels like a game that maybe you can sneak one. You really want to find a way to beat Mizzou and get over the hump there and then verse Ole miss after the buy. Maybe at home that could be a game you sneak as well. But going to be really interesting to see how this season shakes out.
[00:09:32] Once again, the South Carolina schedule is absolutely brutal and this is just going to be the way of the world. Now in the SEc you're going to have different types of I mean, you're South Carolina, you trade Georgia for Alabama, right? And you're on the road too, nonetheless. But going to be exciting to see what this team can get done next year. And despite having a tough season this year and ending on a sour note, I miss it already. And looking at this and thinking about matchups, I'm ready. I'm ready for kickoff.
[00:10:04] And with that being said, this has been an absolutely wild and busy week with updates from Shane Beamer all about additions to the football team via the transfer portal. And seeing some of these guys coupled with the schedule release, you kind of have an idea, know different position groups and things like that. So the transfer portal has finally giveth to the Gamecocks this year. We've dealt with it taking and finally we are seeing some giveth, if you will. So I'm going to list out who we know right now that has committed to the Gamecocks. As I'm recording this, there's still, I believe, two people who have yet to go public with their commitments and all we have is Shane Beamer's welcome home tweet. So without further ado, let's rattle this off here, starting with defensive lineman Jerome Simmons. Now, he actually comes from the Juco rank, so not necessarily from the traditional portal here, but he is a four star Juco prospect. The number six Juco defensive lineman prospect Beamer was addressing an area of need here. You can always use bodies on the line of scrimmage, and taking a JUCo product is always nice. They're a little bit more built up than from the high school ranks. Right? Next we have wide receiver Jared Brown, who is transferring in from coastal Carolina. This past season he finished with 740 receiving yards and four touchdowns. Also had a rushing touchdown as well. He will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.
[00:11:48] Next running back Oscar Attaway is transferring in from North Texas. Attaway had 738 rushing yards this season, had a couple of long touchdown runs in. That seems to be from my limited research on him, seems to be like a complete back, like a guy who can kind of do it all for you. And then next was maybe the biggest splash from the week from the news that running back Raheem Sanders, aka Rocket, is transferring from Arkansas. Now. This was a huge get and he was on Carolina's radar from the word go. I believe in his high school recruitment, South Carolina was heavily involved. He was a stud. While he was at Arkansas, he was ranked the number three running back available in the portal. He can make guys miss. He has fantastic speed and he obviously brings that SEC experience. He was an all SEC player in 2022, dealt with some injuries this year that held him back, but when he's healthy, he looks really, really good. The connection with step and Loggins certainly didn't hurt. But this is RB one. You have RB one now and then Oscar Addaway to compliment him next wide receiver Jaden McGowan is transferring in from Vanderbilt. He is a real speedster, definitely someone who can help out in the slot, sort of replace that Amarian Brown role, but he brings more production than AB had. I think he'll also help out with kickoffs as well. He was highly sought after in the transfer portal and I think Loggins is going to use McGowan in really unique ways and he will also have two seasons of eligibility left. And then defensive lineman Deandre Jules is transferring in from Pitt. This is just a big man at 63, 310 pounds, adding more talent to that defensive line and someone with power five experience.
[00:13:56] Whoo. That was a lot. Like I said, it was a busy week, an exciting week, and like I said, we also have two transfers who are unaccounted for based on Beamer's tweets. So hopefully over the weekend we find out who they are, they make their commitments official and public, and of course, I will update y'all there. But as you can see, Beamer was absolutely cooking this week. He was on a roll. He's a man possessed, and clearly the visits that they had last weekend went well and the staff did a fantastic job of getting their message across to these prospects. And even if it didn't happen right away, they locked down some very impressive and important commits. And I think this is just the theme of Shane Beamer. I think this is just who he is as a person. He doesn't do things for the sake of doing them right. He doesn't do things like a knee jerk reaction, maybe aside from his post game press conferences, but he's very deliberate, right? Whether it's hiring a coach or making a decision on a coach, very slow and steady, deliberate in his actions.
[00:15:14] He hosted a lot of prospects last weekend and it was quiet for most of the weekend and I think a lot of people thought that they had ten prospects on campus. There were no notifications of any commitments Sunday. I think it was late. Monday was the first one and I think a lot of people thought maybe they struck out. But I think the message is we're going to take our time, right? It's not how you start, it's how you finish. And whatever approach that this staff took with this group of transfers that they're targeting has worked because they are getting quality, quality players at position of need. I mean, let's look at wide receiver, right? You're looking to replace a lot of productivity from Xavier Leguette, Omega Blake left. Juice is in the portal, but maybe that status might change. Rumors that he might come back, but you got to assume he's not going to in this instance. You're getting two productive wide receivers who can do a number of things for you and now you have some experience in that room. You're probably not done reaching out to that type of position as well, but you also have some young talent in the building. You have Bennett coming in from the recruiting ranks. So all of a sudden that area of need was addressed. Defensive line, it was clear that there wasn't enough depth along the defensive line in this season, right? You return a core group of guys like TJ, Tonka, boogie, they need some help, right? You got a guy like Elijah Davis, there's a couple other guys, but Deandre Martin left. You know, you had to go out and you needed to get depth and you needed to get productivity. I think you get depth with Simmons, maybe he can develop well. But then Jules is coming in from the power five and has some pretty solid stats behind him. Now, that area has been addressed. Right? The interior defensive line, you got to love coach Robertson, right, T Rob, gotta believe that he can coach them up and it could be a position of strength for us in the future. And then running back. Running back was a huge area of need, not just now, but all of last season, right? That room was just not adequately staffed. Right? So Mario Anderson leaves. You needed to bring in a running back even without his departure. So he leaves and I think Addaway brings that same type of skill set and pretty much the same productivity yards wise and things like that last year. But he's been a little bit more consistent at a level other than where Mario was. So you bring that type of production in and then Rocket is RB one. So now you have a legitimate RB one with SEC experience in Rocket. Addaway is a perfect complement to him. And then you have juju who now can do more of the things that he's better at, doesn't have to try and step in and be RB two. And then DJ Braswell now has a year under his belt, and then you're also hoping to bring in another one in the portal and then you have the high school ranks as well. So all of a sudden that room has been flipped where you're not hoping Anderson can get a big run and he can stay healthy because there's no one else behind him now. There is depth and experience in multiple spots in that running back room. So very exciting. Right now I'm excited to see who else we're waiting on. Maybe someone in the defensive backfield, maybe an edge rusher, maybe another running back, maybe offensive lineman. There's still areas of need, but Shane Beamer has done a fantastic job of addressing them and not just on like a flyer, not a guy that you're hoping can develop into something. Guys who have played at respectable levels and have done so well. So really exciting to see. I'm excited to see what else he's cooking up. We're still waiting on some, and it also seems like the high school recruiting ranks are also going very well for Shane Beamer. He's been on the road a lot, but now moving on to games that are actually being played. We have a basketball doubleheader Saturday. The women are playing early in the day and the men in the evening, both at colonial life. So just go to colonial life, hang out, maybe go to thirsty fellow, drink and you got a full day of basketball ball day Saturday. But let's look at the men's team here as they are taking on Charleston Southern at 06:00 p.m.. Saturday. Honestly, it feels like ages since we've seen the Qzips in action here. Charleston Southern is three and six overall and they are last in the big south. Our gamecocks are looking for their 9th win on the year and also to remain perfect at home. This feels like a game that you should handle fairly well, but after a long break you don't want to feel overly confident and we're still sort of in a like, are we actually kind of good mode with our men's team, so don't take anything for granted. My crow to the game here is let Colin Murray, Boyles get his minutes. He's obviously still working his way back to be fully in shape after his bout of mono. But this feels like a game where you can stretch it out a little bit playing time wise with him. Let him see some different looks, let him build that confidence up, let him make some mistakes, especially in a game that you feel like it's kind of lower stakes and you feel like you have a little bit of room for error here. But will be fun to watch them Saturday evening. And then Saturday afternoon we have the women in action as they are taking on Presbyterian. The women are, of course, coming off that thriller against Utah last weekend. I'm hoping that this weekend's game is a little bit less intense. My mental health is, blood pressure is, but Presbyterian, they're decent in their own right. They are seven and three overall on the year and they're actually first in the big south. So kind of getting a first and last yang situation here. Basketball Saturday my crow to the game here is let Chloe Kitts cook. She has been showing very good signs of her development and as she continues to realize her potential, she will be a key piece for this team later in the year. In my opinion, this would be a great game for her to put up big numbers and have that feeling of really owning a game. Like, she's had her moments, she's had good games, but I'd like to see her really own this game. Leading scorer, maybe a double, double. Just let her own this game.
[00:22:27] But with that, y'all, that wraps up this episode. Please follow me on social media Twitter X is Cox Gamecocks. Instagram is just the name of the show, Cox talking gamecocks. And please like subscribe and review the podcast. I appreciate all y'all. Go Cox.
