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Beamer recaps 'phenomenal' official visit weekend

Shane Beamer always knew June was going to be a busy month.

Visits opened back up June 1 and, with Beamer’s goal of hosting prospects every day this month, he and the rest of the staff will be inundated with visitors over the next 30 days.

So far, so good for Beamer, who just wrapped up his first week of what he called “phenomenal” official visits.

Photo by Katie Dugan
Photo by Katie Dugan
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The official visit weekend we just finished was amazing. It was one of the best, if not the best, I’ve been a part of,” Beamer said on GC Live Monday. “The feedback was amazing talking to families as they left town. The word genuineness, real, truthful, honest, fun, it was really impactful hearing from so many people. Being around so many great prospects and their families, it was a really good group of people from an official visit standpoint.”

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Since taking over in December, Beamer and his staff haven’t been able to host prospects on visits in any capacity, having to wait for the summer to do it because of COVID.

This week was the first official visits in any capacity and they hosted 13 over the course of seven days, 10 of which came in for the weekend to visit.

They were able to meet the coaching staff and learn more about the program—coaches, the system and what goes into playing for Beamer—as well as the academics, but an emphasis was put on spending time with the coaches and support staff to showcase the culture Beamer is trying to build.

“At the end of the day they’re going to make their decision based on the relationships with the people at those schools,” Beamer said. “I love the group we have right now and thought a lot of them, but after spending time with so many recruits and their families this weekend, I’m even more convinced what an amazing staff of people we have here.”

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Dispatches from the official visitors have been glowing of Beamer and what the staff did during the official visits, something Beamer hangs his hat coming out of the busiest weekend of his tenure to-date.

He even joked with parents in the exit meetings Sunday morning they did so much in a weekend and there was still more they could have done in Columbia.

Even with all the positive momentum, Beamer said it falls back on the types of people he’s hired to be involved and the group of player hosts they had for the visitors.

Saturday night, after dinner when the hosts usually have the visitors, he and the coaches had to usher a few out because they wanted to stick around and hangout with the coaches.

“A lot of places I’ve been the recruits and hosts can’t wait to get out the door. Like they’re gone at the first opportunity. We had some of that happen but we had a lot of guys where we almost had to kick them out cause they wanted to stay and keep talking with coaches and our staff and their families,” Beamer said.

“It was very easy and very real and natural. It was a great group of young men and families here this weekend and first class people. That starts with the people in our program as well and the 48 hours we were to show what we’re about.”

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The visit plan was concocted by blending elements from what South Carolina did previously with what Beamer and the coaches did at other stops along the way that they felt like worked.

Next up is trying to land the visitors as part of the 2022 class and gearing up for the next wave of recruits on campus from an unofficial and official visitor standpoint.

“Really the last two weeks have been amazing,” Beamer said. “I knew we’d have a lot of prospects here, don’t get me wrong, but the level of talent that we’ve had on campus the last two weeks—whether it be from camps or unofficial visits—it’s been remarkable. All of them sit there and say, ‘I can’t wait to be back.’”

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