Rahsul Faison reportedly misses practice as South Carolina opens fall camp
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Rahsul Faison did not take the field with the Gamecocks on Friday when South Carolina opened fall camp, according to reports from local media members.
That led to confusion in Columbia. Earlier in the week, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said that Faison would practice with the team “until somebody tells me otherwise.” Faison is still, months later, awaiting word from the NCAA on his waiver to play this season.
The Post and Courier’s David Cloninger reached out to Faison’s attorney, Darren Heitner, on Friday afternoon for clarification on whether Faison was allowed to practice. Heitner replied in an email that Faison cannot practice “until the final decision comes.”
Faison has been enrolled at the school since January, when he transferred from Utah State. He is seeking a waiver that would grant him a seventh year of eligibility.
Last December, it seemed Faison’s college career could be extended after Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia won a precedent-setting decision that allowed JUCO players an additional year of eligibility. Faison is arguing that he has only played 3 seasons of college football thus far.
He took a grayshirt at Marshall in 2019, then did not play while attending Lackawanna College in 2020 because of the COVID pandemic. He moved to Snow College in 2021 but did not play that season either. He spent 2 seasons at Utah State before joining the Gamecocks this offseason.
If he is ruled eligible to compete this season, he likely becomes South Carolina’s bell cow running back. The Gamecocks didn’t pursue additional reinforcements in the spring transfer window in part because they were optimistic about Faison’s status. If he’s ruled ineligible, South Carolina will have to lean on others.
More than anything, frustration from the South Carolina side stems from the lengthy review process.
“It’s getting frustrating, just to be completely frank,” Beamer said back in May. “I understand the NCAA has a lot on their plate, but the fact that they’ve had everything they needed from us since January – we don’t have an answer – it’s frankly disappointing. We’ve given them everything they needed back in January. They asked for more. We gave them what they needed.”
The NCAA doesn’t typically provide status updates on cases that are currently in motion. Two years ago, North Carolina receiver Tez Walker didn’t receive an official ruling on his eligibility until Sept. 7. (And the NCAA reversed that decision a month later.)
Derek Peterson does a bit of everything, not unlike Taysom Hill. He has covered Oklahoma, Nebraska, the Pac-12, and now delivers CFB-wide content.
