In the strange world of college football recruiting, nothing comes as a surprise to most head coaches around the country. This includes South Carolina's Shane Beamer, who knew something fishy was going on just ten minutes after receiving a commitment from four-star linebacker Jaishawn Barham.

The prized linebacker from Maryland had committed to the Gamecocks on Saturday, but a phone call just ten minutes later tipped Beamer off to the player's true plan. Though Beamer still continued to recruit him over the next three days, he already knew what was coming. Sure enough, the linebacker signed with Maryland just a few days after committing to Beamer.

“You’d have to ask the young man that you’re referring to (if you want to know what happened),” Beamer pointed out. “I know — I can’t say that it’s a surprise. When this particular young man committed on Saturday, about ten minutes later, I got a phone call from somebody in the know up there that said, ‘Just so you know, it’s all part of the plan. He’s going to flip on Wednesday and go to Maryland.’ So I can’t sit here and say that I was shocked. When you’re on the phone with a young man as recent, as late as 10:30, 11 o’clock last night and he and the mom are telling you how they’re so thankful they found a home — how appreciative they are of how we do things, how they knew that South Carolina was the place for him on his very first visit to South Carolina and how excited they are for the future, you feel pretty good about things.

“Certainly with the young man you’re referring to, some strange things happened overnight. Which that’s a story for another day. We got the right people here in this program that signed today. Guys that you can win with and you win with people. We certainly got the right guys here today, that’s for sure.”

In this day and age of high school recruiting, sometimes a player can pull a fast one on a head coach. But this time, the head coach was the one ready for the flip.

Just another recruiting story for the books.

Jaishawn Barham

Shane Beamer Knew A Flip Was Coming Ten Minutes After The Prospect Committed