Spurrier pleased with South Carolina signees

From Staff Reports - The (Columbia) State

COLUMBIA -- South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier and recruiting coordinator Shane Beamer said today that they were pleased with this year's signing class and that it does a good job in filling the team's needs.

Among those needs, Beamer said, was adding offensive linemen, of which the Gamecocks had six signees.

"It was a big need from day one," Beamer said.

South Carolina confirmed signees

Beamer praised former offensive line coach Eric Wolford's efforts for recruiting those offensive lineman and said Shawn Elliott did great in meeting all the OL commitments when he first took the job.

Both Spurrier and Beamer said the just-opened Dodie Academic Enrichment Center is already playing a big part in the recruiting process.

"The Dodie had a huge impact on this year's class and was the reason we got some of these guys," Beamer said.

The coaches said a number of newcomers could see playing time this season.

"There's a good chance 7, 8, 10 of them could play. Who knows," Spurrier said. "We'll bring them all in and let them compete with the players we have here."

Spurrier said Marcus Lattimore's mom Yolanda Smith was a caring woman and mother, but he declined to re-create the cha-cha slide moment that Byrnes running back Marcus Lattimore made a big impression on him.

"I don't think that had a big factor in Marcus coming here," Spurrier said. "He had wonderful rapport with coach [Jay] Graham and knew a lot of players that were committed to us. ... That was just a small part of having a little fun at the house that day."

Spurrier said a few of the signees have academic issues, and that one for sure could be placed at a junior college. He didn't name names.

Beamer on near-misses: "You're not going to get them all."

Spurrier: "We'll find out how good the class is two or three years down the road. ... Recruiting is very important. What is most important is what they do on campus."

Spurrier started and finished by talking about the loss in the Papajohns.com Bowl, saying it's important for the fan support and recruiting that the team finish better in a bowl game than it has the last two seasons.

"We need to compete at the end of the season. That will help recruiting. People just remember your last game and that's the way life is."

Spurrier said the team watched the bowl game for the first time together on Tuesday. He said it was in his top three ever of worst-coached games.