Shane Beamer announces South Carolina LB put on scholarship for senior season
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Amidst all of the high-figure deals and myriad of moves in the transfer portal, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer made sure to make some time for a walk-on Wednesday.
During one of the Gamecocks’ winter lifting sessions, Beamer spoke to the team and surprised junior linebacker Jamian Risher Jr. with a scholarship for his final season of college football.
“Year 4 is what he’s starting,” Beamer yelled. “But unlike Year 1, Year 2 and Year 3, he won’t be paying to come to Carolina.”
Risher’s teammates quickly mobbed him, calling him by his nickname of “Rish.”
Risher actually begin his college career as a regular student at South Carolina before he joined the program over the summer of 2023 following a walk-on tryout. The Varnville, South Carolina native sparingly appeared on special teams in 2023 and 2024, but 2025 saw him record 4 total tackles defensively in two appearances.
The junior was also named to the SEC’s Academic Honor Roll in the fall of 2024.
With the future status of walk-ons currently in flux and the transfer portal dominating the news cycle as of late, it’s always refreshing to see a player rewarded for hard work while biding his time.
Parker is currently the sports editor for the Enterprise-Journal in McComb, Mississippi. He's a graduate from Mizzou who has experience covering the Tiger football and basketball beats for SB Nation, and he's worked for a variety of sports news outlets in the past.
