South Carolina Gamecocks running back Rahsul Faison has been waiting to hear from the NCAA if he’ll receive a waiver to play in 2025. Now, he’s looking for answers and has announced that he hired an NIL lawyer.

Head coach Shane Beamer met with reporters in Greenville on Thursday afternoon. There, he admitted that hiring lawyers was a decision Faison made and that it wasn’t prompted by the program.

“Yeah, that was nothing that we directed him to do,” Shane Beamer said. “That was nothing that we set up for him. I saw it on social media like y’all did. I said, ‘Okay, that’s cool.’ That was really Rahsul, and I think that is just kind of the next step.”

Rahsul Faison retained attorney Darren Heitner, who has worked with South Carolina’s Myles Stute to help him receive a hardship waiver to play for the men’s basketball team in 2025-26. This comes as Faison is looking to get a waiver for his JUCO season, similar to the one that Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia received.

After going to Marshall in 2019, Faison used a grayshirt. After that, he transferred to the JUCO ranks, and in 2021 and 2022, he played for Snow College, though he was only on the football team there for one season. He’d later transfer to Utah State and now South Carolina.

“Like I said the other night, I understand the NCAA has a lot on their plate,” Beamer said. “But there are a lot of things in the balance here, and it is something that we have been trying to get an answer on since January. I think Rahsul felt like it was the next thing to do to try and maybe fast forward this thing along.”

Last season, Rahsul Faison rushed for 1,109 yards on 5.6 yards per attempt with eight touchdowns at Utah State. He also caught 22 passes for 99 yards.

Shane Beamer calls out NCAA over Rahsul Faison waiver delay

The frustration is clearly growing for Shane Beamer, Rahsul Faison, and the rest of the South Carolina program. Spring practice has come and gone, and it’s still unclear what his status is for 2025. It’s not surprising that Beamer is getting frustrated.

“It’s getting frustrating just to be completely frank. I understand that the NCAA has a lot on their plate, but the fact that they’ve had everything they needed from us since January and we don’t have an answer is, frankly, disappointing. We’ve given them everything they needed. …We’ve been in contact with other schools that he was at to get stuff from them to give them what they needed,” Beamer said.

“Again, I know they have a lot on their plate, but the fact that we’re now in the middle of May and we still don’t have an answer and we just went through a portal window where we didn’t add a running back but we don’t have an answer on whether or not we’re gonna have three scholarship running backs on our team or four, five, whatever it is. That’s tough when you talk about planning for 2025.”

1st

O’Connor, K. singled up the middle, RBI (2-0 BB); Kennedy, D. scored.

0

1

2nd

Hussey, G. grounded out to ss, RBI (1-2 BKKF); Swain, C. advanced to third; Rinehart, J. scored.

1

1

2nd

Kelly, G. advanced to second on a wild pitch; Swain, C. scored on a wild pitch, unearned.

2

1

2nd

Bishop, D. singled up the middle, RBI (0-1 K); Madliak, B. advanced to third; Martin, M. scored.

2

2

2nd

Kennedy, D. walked, RBI (3-1 BBBKB); Inoue, S. advanced to second; Bishop, D. advanced to third; Madliak, B. scored.

2

3

4th

Kelly, G. singled to center field, RBI (2-0 BB); Hussey, G. advanced to second; Rinehart, J. scored.

3

3

4th

Kresser, B. singled through the left side, RBI (0-0); Kelly, G. advanced to second; Hussey, G. scored.

4

3

4th

West, K. homered to right center, 4 RBI (3-2 BBKBK); King, S. scored; Kresser, B. scored; Kelly, G. scored.

8

3

6th

Rinehart, J. doubled to right center, 2 RBI (0-0); White, S. scored; Sauve, L. scored.

10

3

MANHATTAN, Kan. (May 10, 2025) – The No. 12 West Virginia University baseball team bounced back from a tough loss in the series opener with a 10-3 victory over Kansas State, Saturday afternoon at Tointon Family Stadium. The Mountaineers improve to 40-9 overall and 19-5 in the Big 12 while the Wildcats fall to 29-21 and 15-11 in conference play.
 
With their 40^th win of the season, the Mountaineers have tied a program record set in 1994 and matched in 2023. It is also the most regular season wins in school history. One more win for the Mountaineers or losses by TCU and Arizona State would clinch the Big 12 title for West Virginia as well.
 
Senior Jace Rinehart went 3-for-4 with two doubles, two RBI and two runs scored while Kyle West hit a grand slam, his eighth home run of the season to tie Rinehart for the team lead.
 
On the mound, sophomore Chase Meyer got his first weekend start and went 4.1 innings while allowing three runs and striking out four. Junior Ben McDougal earned his first win of the season with 4.2 scoreless innings, allowing just one hit and striking out two.
 

Kansas State took an early lead with a run in the first before WVU responded with two runs in the second on a groundout and wild pitch. In the home half of the second, the Wildcats answered with two runs of their own to retake the lead.
 
In the fourth, the Mountaineers put up six runs, all with two outs. Freshman Gavin Kelly evened up the game with a single before senior Brodie Kresser put WVU on top with a single of his own. West then delivered the big blow, a grand slam of off KSU’s top reliever, to extend the advantage to five runs.
 
Rinehart padded the lead in the sixth with a two-run double to give him 50 RBI on the season.
 
It was plenty of cushion for McDougal as he retired the final 11 batters to come to the plate.
 
The Mountaineers will look to take the series and the conference title on Sunday with first pitch for game three set for 2 p.m. ET.
 
For more information on the Mountaineers, follow @WVUBaseball on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
 

Most Georgia football fans would assume that UGA had to pay a pretty penny to land five-star quarterback Jared Curtis last week, but that wasn’t actually the case. Many reports circulated stating that Curtis will make less than $1 million as a freshman at Georgia, which is very low for a quarterback of his ability.

But this decision was made on purpose for a few reasons. The first and most obvous reason is because Curtis likely won’t be the starter or even play during his true freshman season in 2026. So why should he get paid a premium when he isn’t even going to be on the field?

For most other schools in the country, that idea still hasn’t prevented them from paying quarterbacks millions of dollars during their freshman seasons, but it clearly didn’t scare Curtis away from Georgia. And the reason it didn’t push him somewhere else is because of an interesting NIL clause that could go into place heading into the 2028 season.

Jared Cutis can negotiate a new NIL deal if he becomes the starter

According to Maddy Hudak with si.com, Curtis will make between $600k and $800k during his freshman season in 2026. From there he will receive a raise and make between $1.2 and $1.4 million in 2027. This raise coincides with the potential of him becoming the starter for Georgia for the first time, so it makes sense that he would get this increase.

Heading into the 2028 season however is where things will reportedly get interesting, because there is not a set amount he will make from Georgia duing his third year in Athens. Both Georgia and Curtis’s camp have agreed to renogotiate his NIL deal before this season based on how he has performed in college. If he is the starter and playing well then he will become one of the highest earning quarterbacks in college football. But if he hasn’t become the starter yet then his deal likely won’t increase much.

This is a very unique strategy because most players want to make as much money as possible no matter what their performance looks like, but that isn’t what Curtis wants to do. Curtis wants to be rewarded if he plays well, and Georgia and Kirby Smart are more than happy to work things out with him this way.

So in a day and age where players will jump ship and transfer to another school whenever adversity hits, this unique NIL clause seemingly should keep Curtis in Athens throughout his entire career.

Clinton, S.C. – Winthrop softball dropped a hard fought battle against USC Upstate in the Big South Championship game as a big first inning led to a 7-4 victory for the Spartans.

GAME INFORMATION

RECORD: (4) Winthrop (30-23, 10-8 Big South) | (3) USC Upstate (39-14, 10-8 Big South)

WINTHROP LEADERS: Megan Powell (4-4, R, HR, RBI) | Katie Beck (1-3, R, HR, 2RBI) | Emma Jackson (1-4, R, 2B) | Lonna Addison (5IP, 4H, R, BB, 2K / 0-2, BB)

WHAT HAPPENED

• Upstate grabbed the lead in the bottom of the first inning
• It started when Denver Lauer led off with a double down the left field line
• Alanna Deal followed with a walk and then on a 2-1 count it looked like Sophia Kardatzke was hit by a pitch but after conversations among the umpire and coaches she was brought back for a 3-1 count
• On that play Lauer and Deal were allowed to move over a base and remain
• The next pitch Kardatzke pulled a soft floater to left field, scoring Lauer for a 1-0 lead
• Carson Shaw followed with a single through the left side that plated two more runs
• Abigail Pippen followed by reaching on an error at first base that scored Shaw from second on the play
• Upstate managed two more runs to extend the lead to 6-0
• Eagles got on the board in the third inning as Megan Powell homered to left field
• Tia Beckham followed with a double to center, but was stranded
• Upstate answered in the bottom half of the third as Abby Polk drew a leadoff walk and then scored three batters later on a double down the left field line by Liza Simmerson
• Eagles threatened in the top of the fourth inning as Katie Beck started it off with a leadoff walk
• After a flyout by Annelisa Winebarger, Beck hustled all the way from first to third on a wild pitch
• Lonna Addison then drew a walk on a full count to put runners at the corners
• Tabitha Perry tried to lay down a bunt but Deal at third base raced in to catch the bunt and then quickly threw to first for a double play to end the top half
• Katie Beck cut into the Upstate lead in the top of the sixth as Peyton Bryden led off with a triple off the right field wall and then Beck homered to right to trail 7-3
• Emma Jackson led off the top of the seventh with a double down the left field line and Powell followed with a single to left to put runners at the corners with no outs
• Emma Roberson came in to pinch-run for Powell and stole second to put two runners in scoring position
• Two batters later Bryden grounded to second to pull the Eagles within three runs as Jackson scored from third but unfortunately the Eagles were unable to keep the rally going

EXTRA BASES

• This was the second straight year the Eagles played in a Big South Championship game and the 15^th all-time
• Powell and Back’s home runs put the team total at 51 for the season, third most in program history for a single-season
• It is just the fourth time in program history that an Eagle team had 50 or more home runs in a single-season
• It also gave the Eagles three players with 10 or more home runs this season
• This is the first time in program history the Eagles have had three players with 10 or more in a season (Powell, Beck and Beckham all have 10)
• Powell had her second four-hit game of the tournament and finished the tournament with nine hits, two runs and three RBI
• Jackson had a team-best six runs in the tournament giving her 120 for her career
• Powell, Jackson and Addison were named to the Big South All-Tournament Team

STAY SOCIAL WITH THE EAGLES
For everything Winthrop softball visit www.winthropeagles.com or follow us on social media @Winthropsoftbal, winthropsoftball (Instagram) or www.facebook.com/Winthrop-Softball

T7 | Bryden drives in a run to make it a 3 run game#ROCKtheHILL | #BigSouthSB pic.twitter.com/MltSRSKsfI

— Winthrop Softball (@Winthropsoftbal) May 10, 2025

T6 | BECK WITH THE OPPO 2-RUN HR

WIN 3

UPST 7#ROCKtheHILL | #BigSouthSB pic.twitter.com/IbdvNethpE

— Winthrop Softball (@Winthropsoftbal) May 10, 2025

T3 | DOWN BUT NOT OUT! POWELL GOES DEEP#ROCKtheHILL | #BigSouthSB pic.twitter.com/zH2LxSL6eh

— Winthrop Softball (@Winthropsoftbal) May 10, 2025

As Oklahoma and Texas A&M waited more than two hours for the rain to pass the Athens area, the two teams and the SEC came to a decision. The 2025 SEC softball tournament championship game would be canceled, and the two teams would be co-champions.

OU coach Patty Gasso detailed the conversation she had with Texas A&M’s Trisha Ford about whether they should play the title game. The top two teams in the country, Gasso said the two coaches weighed whether there’d be any advantage to playing Saturday’s game, which was already moved up from its original start time.

Ultimately, they opted to be co-champions of the 2025 SEC softball tournament. Gasso pointed out the stakes of the looming NCAA Tournament compared to the title game in the rain.

“Both coaches just got together and said, ‘What is this worth?’” Gasso said, via The Oklahoman’s Ryan Aber. “We’re co-champions. … It doesn’t give us a big advantage one way or another. We just want to get on our charter flights before the weather gets worse and try to get home at a good hour because there’s too much at stake to play in this right now.”

Texas A&M headed into Saturday ranked as the top team in the country while Oklahoma came in at No. 2. The Aggies also sit No. 1 in the RPI with the fifth-toughest strength of schedule, along with a 19-8 record vs. Top-25 RPI teams. The Sooners, meanwhile, sit No. 5 in the RPI and have the No. 16 strength of schedule, as well as an 18-6 record against the RPI Top 25.

Patty Gasso’s comments were similar to Trisha Ford’s regarding the decision to cancel Saturday’s game. The tarp never came off the field at Jack Turner Stadium, and Ford pointed out the need to ensure everyone got home safe and sound.

“There’s just a lot of factors [that went into it],” Ford said, via The Eagle’s Robert Cessna. “It hasn’t stopped raining since about noon today. It [didn’t] look like we’d get a window big enough for us to be able to play a game. So with just the field conditions and then for everybody being able to get home safely [it was] just one of those unfortunate things.”

Both the Sooners and Aggies will find out their NCAA Tournament fate during Sunday’s selection show. The bracket reveal is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET on ESPN2.