Gamecocks' Shane Beamer urges more NIL money for team

COLUMBIA — It isn’t going away. Name-Image-Likeness compensation for college student-athletes may have its regulations tweaked in the future, but paying athletes these days is legal and allowed, and to the richest programs often go the best players. South Carolina coach Shane Beamer was asked about it on Tuesday, and as he always has, he supports his players getting whatever they can.

While clarifying that everything Gamecock fans are giving is outstanding, he said there’s never an end to what it will cost to produce a championship team. “Whether you agree with NIL, disagree with NIL, you want to win at the highest level and you want to win championships like we do here at Carolina, we’re going to have to be very active from an NIL standpoint, a collective standpoint,” he said. “We’ve got some people that have done some great things for our student-athletes, and (we are) thankful for them.

"And frankly, we need more of them, as well. ” Kentucky coach Mark Stoops waded into the NIL muck on his Monday radio show, responding to a caller’s complaints about the Wildcats’ 51-13 curb-stomping at Georgia last week. He accepted the criticism and said that he can certainly do his part as coach, but other help has to come from other areas.

“I can promise you, Georgia? They bought some pretty good players,” Stoops said of the back-to-back national champions and current No. 1 team in the country. “You’re allowed to these days.

We could use some help. ” Gamecocks' Juice Wells week-to-week, says Shane Beamer Beamer wasn’t going to get into the particulars of Kentucky and Georgia, but pointed out what everybody already knows: NIL isn’t supposed to be a recruiting enticement, but it has become one. The NCAA is trying to add rules and get Congress to pass guidelines; some states are doing the opposite by declaring that their state NIL rules are immune to federal oversight.

NCAA President Charlie Baker is expected to testify in front of a Senate committee next week during the 10th hearing on Capitol Hill over the last three years on college sports. Baker and other college sports leaders have been lobbying lawmakers for a federal law to help regulate the way college athletes can be compensated for their fame. USC is into NIL as much as any school.

Beamer said Tuesday that he will speak to any group, any collective at any time if it can benefit his players. Since USC officially partnered with one of the collectives, The Garnet Trust, Beamer has lent his voice to social-media videos asking for donations. And he knows the limitations.

South Carolina isn’t the biggest state and USC doesn’t have the largest amount of donors, or donors who can afford to purchase their usual tickets and give on top of that. Yet he isn't shy in asking for more. After Gamecocks' bye week, taking stock of stretch run “NIL is certainly a major factor, not just in college football, but all across college athletics, in every sport.

Particularly with young men and women that are transferring from a school for different reasons as well. All I would say is it is something that we’re going to be very active in,” he said. “I’m grateful for our fans and every amount of money that they give to this university, this football program, paying money to come to games at Williams-Brice Stadium.

But for those who have the ability to give, we need you, for sure. ” Follow David Cloninger on Twitter at @DCPandC Want the latest updates on Gamecock athletics sent straight to your inbox? Subscribe to Gamecocks Now! Similar Stories Sapakoff: Not the worst Gamecocks O-line ever, it just looks that way Gamecocks' Shane Beamer urges more NIL money for team Today's Top Headlines Editor's Picks Charleston City Council approves nomination of Chito Walker as Police Chief .