The Daily Feed // 09.16.10

by The Feathered Warrior on Sep 16, 2025 5:00 AM EDT in News

More photos » Mike Zarrilli - Getty Images

There's no "Wesley Saunders" in TEAM.

FOOTBALL

BREAKING: Saunders dismissed from team | Spur of the Moment
That's that. Wesley Saunders is now dead to me. Hopefully Justice Cunningham will break the trend of woefully disappointing tight ends at USC. I think this is the right decision considering all that Saunders has put this team through in the last few months. If we're going to do anything in the East this year we're going to need players with a team first attitude. I thought this tidbit was particularly interesting:

Players were staying at the hotel for a negotiated $450 a month, but Saunders was the only player not sharing a room with a teammate.

$450 a month split two-ways is quite a steal, and also explains how the players were able to pay off their over-due balances so quickly. That quote also reinforces Wesley Saunders' image as a "me first" guy. Just a darn shame when you get right down to it.

Gamecocks Practice Wednesday | Gamecocks Online
Saunders out. Ingram in?

"Most of you probably already heard Weslye Saunders is not a member of our team anymore," continued the Head Ball Coach. "That's about all we need to say about it. We wish him the best in whatever he does after here. He's on scholarship through the year and hopefully he'll stay and graduate." BREAK

Coach Spurrier confirmed that defensive tackle Melvin Ingram worked out some today at tight end. "He's sort of an offensive talent - he can catch, run, throw, he can do all that stuff. He can do it all."

Pass Rush Adjusting To New Talent | GamecockCentral.com
A good read on why our pass rush hasn't been all that impressive and how the defense is adjusting to the loss of Eric Norwood.

10 Questions for Week 3 of CFB | Leftover Hot Dog
LOHD has questions and wants answers.

A Worrier’s Lament | The Rubber Chickens
TRC doesn't think you should get too comfortable.

Bill Shanks: Georgia has hit mediocrity | Macon.com
Just your average reactionary article after a Bulldawg loss. The game this guy and T. Kyle King watched must have been leagues apart. I'd still go to Dawg Sports for my UGA football analysis, but I thought I'd include this just to note that The State isn't the only newspaper that hates its hometown college football team.

BASKETBALL

University of South Carolina Freshman: 6'5" Brian Richardson is a Sharpshooter | One Entertainment
Check out newly minted Gamecock, Brian Richardson. The kid looks like he can shoot, but what really impressed me was the play at the 16 second mark.

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Read More: Melvin Ingram (DT - South Carolina), Eric Norwood (LB - South Carolina), Weslye Saunders (TE - South Carolina), South Carolina Gamecocks, Furman Paladins at South Carolina Gamecocks, Sep 18, 2025 7:00 PM EDT, Georgia Bulldogs at South Carolina Gamecocks, Sep 11, 2025 12:00 PM EDT

Comments

I think the sharing a room thing...

means that the players sharing a room were splitting a 900 / mo room. Saunders was paying the full bill by himself, which is why he got so far behind.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 8:13 AM EDT reply actions

yea

thats what I got from it when reading it.

by Gamecockrock on Sep 16, 2025 8:20 AM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, that's what I'm guessing now.

But when the story first broke The State made it sound like each players was paying $450 for a single room - and that a single room goes for around $1,200. The fact that most players were sharing rooms was news (to me at least). That drastically cuts down on the amount of possible impermissible benefits. Not to mention the fact that $900 a month is much more reasonable for a hotel room like the Whitney than $450.

I should have proof read that better, but I’ve been a little strapped for time what this tests and everything. But you guys are right, it looks like together they were paying $900.

Dum spiro spero - "While I breathe, I hope"
State motto of South Carolina

by The Feathered Warrior on Sep 16, 2025 9:25 AM EDT up reply actions

No problem--Wasn't calling you out.

The State misreported a good deal of the Whitney Situation, or, rather, hurried to get things out quickly and kind of reported things as they came out, before we knew everything. That’s caused a lot of the confusion about the Whitney thing.

$900 / mo is perfectly fair for the Whitney. Hotels are given leeway to cut deals for extended stay rates and will cut better deals when the hotel is at low occupancy. That’s what happened with that. Now, the guys that got so far behind, that’s a different story. That’s more worrisome.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 11:04 AM EDT up reply actions

I agree it's worrisome...

…but what does the NCAA expect us to do? Babysit 85 football players and make sure they’re paying their rent on time? There has to be a point where personal responsibility takes over from the compliance office. I’m sure they do their best, but they can’t keep track of everyone.

Granted, I think it was a mistake to put players up in the Whitney regardless of how legitimate the rent agreements were, but I just don’t know how the NCAA can expect this level of control from us. (If that is what they’re expecting.) It’s not the program’s fault if someone is behind on rent.

by RumblinFish on Sep 16, 2025 12:27 PM EDT up reply actions

Well, hopefully that's what the NCAA thinks.

As we’ve discussed, one of the the worries about this new LOI has to be that the NCAA will slap us with the dreaded “lack of institutional control” label for what’s happened at the Whitney. Hopefully, though, the NCAA will see it the way you do and won’t blame us for our players’ individual indiscretions.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 1:10 PM EDT up reply actions

silver82blade...

I see you’ve been saying some nice things about us on the Furman boards. I appreciate it!

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 1:16 PM EDT reply actions

They were upset that no one was talking about them on other Carolina sites.

I thought I’d point them to your articles, so they can feel like we’re not ignoring them.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Sep 16, 2025 4:18 PM EDT up reply actions

Heh.

Well, after our recent performances against Wofford, and after seeing teams like Va Tech get beaten by a team that probably isn’t as good as Furman, I’m not taking anything for granted.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Furman is a good team.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 4:32 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, after getting acquainted with Furman's roster, they are better than I initially thought.

However, I think a lot of the problems with Wofford was due more to their offensive scheme than anything else. That option offense with all those cut blocks is hard to defend against unless you can bust through their line and catch them from behind. I don’t see Furman doing a lot of those kinds of offensive plays. If Carolina’s offense was better back when they played Wofford, it probably wouldn’t have been as close as it was. This year, the offense is pretty decent. I still think it will be a route.

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Sep 16, 2025 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions

Yeah, me too...

You’re right that Wofford’s offensive scheme and our offensive woes back then contributed to how close those games were. Furman really shouldn’t bring us too many surprises; if you watch some film on them, they actually do a lot of the kinds of things that we’re doing on offense. And Shawn Elliott has experience coaching against them and can help us scheme for them.

I hope, though, that our team comes out as fired up about this game as they were last week against Georgia. Not that I want to embarrass Furman, but I’d really like to see us put this one away quick and have some time to get the new guys some PT. I’m just asking for us to take this game seriously.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 6:42 PM EDT up reply actions

Don't they have dorms at USC?

They did when I was there, and that was only five years ago. A lot of those kids probably came from poor families. Why all of a sudden do they only require top luxury accomodations?

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Sep 16, 2025 4:16 PM EDT reply actions

If I'm not mistaken, there are new NCAA rules prohibiting the use of athletics dorms.

Not really sure what their purpose is. Maybe someone can enlighten us.

Garnet and Black Attack: A Blog by and for Gamecocks Fans.

by Gamecock Man on Sep 16, 2025 4:31 PM EDT up reply actions

haha silver they definitely still have dorms

Not a single college in america does not… barring online only

GSO

by MikeTrain on Sep 16, 2025 6:24 PM EDT up reply actions

what is the furmans sites

name? I didnt know they had one

by Gamecockrock on Sep 16, 2025 5:54 PM EDT reply actions

I had been chatting it up at the unofficial Furman forum.

http://www.uffp2.com/SMF20/index.php?board=2.0

stuff 'bout stuff.

by silver82blade on Sep 16, 2025 6:41 PM EDT up reply actions

haha

I love their spirit, but man are they homers. They are sitting around there talking about some of our pages not mentioning them, yet they are the ones saying things that make no sense. I like how a fan said they will score 17+ points; thats exactly what a USM fan said.

by Gamecockrock on Sep 17, 2025 12:30 AM EDT up reply actions