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Gamecocks allegedly making desperate push to sign rugby player who has never played football

18IsTheMan

18IsTheMan

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Neff Giwa is the buzz in the college football world. 6'7" 295 lb Irish rugby player projects as OL. Has yet to play a down of football. Currently has offers from us, UNC, UT, SMU and Miami.

This is apparently the extent of his highlight film:



Per Feldman, we made a hard push to sign him to an NIL deal and cancel a planned trip to Miami. Miami was first to offer him so he wanted to honor his visit.

www.si.com

College Football's 'Hottest' Recruit Draws Attention Despite Never Playing a Down

There are some essential qualities of football that can't be coached-- size and athleticism, for instance. And the quest for those qualities can go so strong th
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Freak Rugby Athlete Rejects Shady South Carolina Offer To Spark Bidding War Before First Football Snap

Neff Giwa has never played a competitive down of football. That has not stopped big-time college programs from trying to secure his signature. The freak
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18IsTheMan

18IsTheMan

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Not sure how this would work. Even for guys who come out of high school having played OL for years, there's a steep learning curve in college. HIs measurables are incredible...7 ft wingspan...so maybe his athleticism would offset any learning curve.
 
Harvard Gamecock

Harvard Gamecock

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Miami officially made him an offer last week. Perhaps as an OL.
One thing I do know, Mario Cristobal knows a thing or two about OL play, so there must be something to this young man
 
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Psycock

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Sign him up - did he go to the Irish pub here? Take him if he didn`t. Just don`t give him any alcohol.
 
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Skuddy

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Harvard Gamecock said:
I've been told he was offered a NIL deal somewhere around 1 million by SC.
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If we are ever going to compete, that is what we need to do. Spend our limited resources where it counts the most.....in the trenches.

But, how much are we spending on the OL from NC state (allegedly will play this year) and our own 4/5 star guy that was in the portal but came back and will miss the season? Seems we are rehab U.
 
Uscg1984

Uscg1984

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I can't imagine the drama that goes on in the position rooms among 18 - 21 year olds about who's getting what kind of NIL deals and where they're getting them.
 
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18IsTheMan

18IsTheMan

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Looks like it's probably Miami as he was "blown away" by his visit there and I'm sure whatever we offered in NIL, they easily topped it.

I'm fine with it. He may very well turn out to be generational, but I don't want to break the bank on a player who has never played a down of football.

If he does turn out to be a good one, you can expect recruiting to start looking internationally at Rugby players. It's a copycat sport.
 
Lurker123

Lurker123

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18IsTheMan said:
I'm fine with it. He may very well turn out to be generational, but I don't want to break the bank on a player who has never played a down of football.
Click to expand...

This is what I'm thinking. We dint need to take those kind of risks. We need to bring in some real OL first before we start taking these kind of leaps.
 
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18IsTheMan

18IsTheMan

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Lurker123 said:
This is what I'm thinking. We dint need to take those kind of risks. We need to bring in some real OL first before we start taking these kind of leaps.
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Of course, because I'm pessimistic about such things, I know if we signed him, he'd turn out to be a comical bust. He'll be one of the greatest OL in history at Miami.
 
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Harvard Gamecock

Harvard Gamecock

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He is set to commit on Sunday. I'm hearing that the lean is towards us. Miami was interested, but decided matching the NIL offer was not
the best use of their NIL allowance.
TIFWIW.
 
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Harvard Gamecock

Harvard Gamecock

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18IsTheMan said:
Interesting.

Hope we we didn't get jumpy and overbid.
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IMHO, I'm not getting a good feeling about this. If Miami who a) certainly has plenty of NIL money, and b) Cristobal and his staff who focus
on the trenches, and obviously quite good at developing linemen are willing to cut bait on a project, this doesn't seem to bode well for us.

I'm aware we have new coaches in place for the offense, but anyway you look at this, Giwa is a project. If rumors are true, a million dollar project. I think this money could be spent wisely elsewhere.
 
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Cockofdawn

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Hey this guy was a RUGBY Player, I have played Rugby a couple times, I bet he is a "Bad ***"... That is what this team needs.... Like Clowney, Swearinger, Ingram etc etc, they need some "Bad ***" attitudes!! I think Stewart could have it, we will see when he is 100% Heathly!!
 
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3USC1801

3USC1801

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If the new OL coach can take a raw product and not only fit him into Briles system but make him an NFL caliber player, USC will make history!
 
Harvard Gamecock

Harvard Gamecock

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3USC1801 said:
If the new OL coach can take a raw product and not only fit him into Briles system but make him an NFL caliber player, USC will make history!
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Keeping in mind he has never played a down of American football, realistically speaking it may be a stretch to expect him to get any significant playing time this year.
 
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Piscis

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Skuddy said:
If we are ever going to compete, that is what we need to do. Spend our limited resources where it counts the most.....in the trenches.

But, how much are we spending on the OL from NC state (allegedly will play this year) and our own 4/5 star guy that was in the portal but came back and will miss the season? Seems we are rehab U.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure spending 7 figures on a guy who has never played football is wise.

Of course, we are talking about a team that touts as one of its most valuable players, a wide receiver who had never played the position before college.
 
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Piscis

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Harvard Gamecock said:
Keeping in mind he has never played a down of American football, realistically speaking it may be a stretch to expect him to get any significant playing time this year.
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My initial thought is that DL is a better fit for him. Size, speed and aggression are easier to use on the DL than on the OL. OL requires a lot more technique and understanding the blocking schemes.
 
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3USC1801

3USC1801

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Harvard Gamecock said:
Keeping in mind he has never played a down of American football, realistically speaking it may be a stretch to expect him to get any significant playing time this year.
Click to expand...
Yes, I think he’s a very long shot and a 2-3 year project. The big question on everyone’s mind is “did we overpay?” If he’s intelligent and highly motivated, who knows what can happen? I’m just not keen on taking this kind of risk but, hey, it’s not my money so no skin off my nose.
 
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Harvard Gamecock

Harvard Gamecock

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3USC1801 said:
Yes, I think he’s a very long shot and a 2-3 year project. The big question on everyone’s mind is “did we overpay?” If he’s intelligent and highly motivated, who knows what can happen? I’m just not keen on taking this kind of risk but, hey, it’s not my money so no skin off my nose.
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I get your sentiment, but as we have all been made aware, we are not in the best position to be making a gamble on projects with our limited NIL account.
 
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