South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer shot down a report that the team offered a major NIL deal to land Neff Giwa. Giwa was an Irish rugby, basketball and soccer player, who never played organized football.
But the giant lineman was sought after from the PRI Recruits (Dublin) program. Beamer dismissed the notion that it came down to money, only saying South Carolina didn’t want to let him out of the building due to other schools vying for Giwa’s services.
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“I know there was a post on social media about how we didn’t want to let him out of the building,” Beamer said. “We were just throwing all this money at him to keep him from going somewhere else. That wasn’t true. We were trying to keep him from going somewhere else because he sat in my office and he told me how much he loves this place, and he told me that from the first time he was here, how at home he felt, and that he had been to a lot of different schools, and he hadn’t had a feeling like he had at those other schools, like he had at our place.
“So I said, ‘Well, shoot, let’s get this thing done. We’d love to have you here.’ And he had told another school he was going to visit with them before they made a decision, which I totally get, but this wasn’t just a ‘We got a bunch of money left over. Let’s just throw it all at the Irish soccer player,’ because that’s not the case at all. He really, truly loved it here.”
Standing 6-foot-8, owning a wingspan over seven feet, and weighing in around 300 pounds, Giwa is a rugby star in Ireland who has never played organized football. Instead, he played rugby, soccer, and basketball growing up.
The international prospect visited South Carolina twice as part of a recruiting tour. Both Giwa and PPI’s Brandon Collier spoke highly about the visits. He made several other stops and announced a top five of the Gamecocks, Miami Hurricanes, North Carolina Tar Heels, Tennessee Volunteers, and Texas Longhorns.
Originally listed in the class of 2027, Giwa has actually signed with South Carolina as part of the 2026 cycle. He becomes the fourth offensive lineman to sign in the class and will enroll this summer. He joins blue-chippers Darius Gray and Zyon Guiles and in-state blocker Anthony Baxter in the class.
“I know he’s got some work to do, but if y’all watch the videos, he’s got the skill set and the talent,” Beamer said of Giwa. “More importantly, I think he’s got the temperament, the competitive spirit and the character to really work his rear end off and get in here and become a great player.”