In spring practice, South Carolina will begin the process of replacing three interior linemen from 2024 who used their final year of eligibility. One player who could potentially slide into the starting five at one of the guard positions is Tree Babalade.
The 6-foot-5, 330-pound offensive lineman is heading into his third season with the Gamecocks. As a true freshman in 2023, Babalade played in 11 games which included nine starts at left tackle. This past season, he redshirted after only playing in four games which included one start at left tackle.
In a clip from South Carolina’s first spring practice last week, Babalade was spotted working at left guard. On Monday, when asked if Babalade could move into the interior at guard, offensive coordinator Mike Shula said, “could be” while detailing what has stood out about the third-year offensive lineman.
“He’s gotten off to a good couple of days,” Shula said. “He’s very talented. He’s smart. He has a fast mind. Hopefully, we will continue to see that whether or not he is playing at tackle or if we decide to move him around a little bit at other positions. That’s kind of what is neat in general. Not just with Tree but with all these young guys. You forget about that when you are away from college football. Just how, you go back to a year and these guys are still young and you are saying, these guys hadn’t quite figured it out yet. Now, Tree has and he’s been around.”
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Shula mentioned he has seen Babalade work to take advantage of the opportunity he’s been presented with in Year 3 at South Carolina.
“Just to see him in a whole new year after an offseason,” Shula said. “All of a sudden, it is a fresh start. He is maybe on the older side of the curve than he was last year. You hate to say it like, ‘Well, the light is going on.’ You can kind of see he is seeing things around him and, hey, I have an opportunity here and I want to make the most of it.”
Elsewhere on the offensive line, Shula mentioned a pair of the transfer additions on Monday in Boaz Stanley and Rodney Newsom Jr.
“Boaz and RJ are guys that are very conscientious,” he said. “They are working hard to put their best foot forward in all aspects of the game. That center, obviously, other than the quarterback, he is touching the ball every play. He has to be the quarterback, so to speak, of the guys up front. The communication has to be at a premium. I think both guys do a really good job with that.”
Shula, who’s entering his first year as the Gamecocks’ offensive coordinator, likes the competition that is taking place along Lonnie Teasley‘s line.
“I just think that the competition across the board on the offensive line, really at the tackle positions providing depth,” Shula said. “We know that Josiah (Thompson) and Cason (Henry) are obviously back as returning starters. They still have to compete. The guys coming in are competing with the guys inside at the guards and center position.”
South Carolina will take the field on Tuesday for practice No. 3 of the spring. Assistant coaches Marquel Blackwell, Mike Furrey and Torrian Gray will hold press conferences following the end of practice.
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