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Shane Beamer pulled out all the stops on the recruiting trail this season, and it’s worked out fantastically. A recent story of his recruitment of four-star offensive lineman Oluwatosin Babalade is going viral.
Babalade, one of the top tackle prospects in the 2023 class, goes by the nickname “Tree.” As a way of impressing the Maryland product, he apparently climbed a tree himself.
While on a FaceTime call with the Babalade, Beamer can be seen sitting in a treetop. “Tree” quickly screenshot the hilarious image posted it to his Instagram story this week with National Signing Day finally here.
From Big Tree’s Instagram: Shane Beamer in a tree (part two). pic.twitter.com/KvTLPGZj0U
— Collyn Taylor (@collyntaylor) December 21, 2022
The tactic worked out great for the head coach as Babalade inked his letter of intent to play for South Carolina on Wednesday. And it seems Shane Beamer needed every bit of his tree climbing efforts to land the high-profile prospect.
Babalade committed to play for the Gamecocks during this past offseason, but as often happens when decision time nears, other suitors came calling at the last minute. In this case, it was Maryland, and after backing off his pledge to South Carolina earlier this month, Babalade was spotted in the Terps’ basketball arena on hand for a game.
The school rolled out the red carpet for the lineman in its last gasp effort to change his mind. The Terrapins used one of their top alum, Under Armour founder Kevin Plank, to court the big man.
After having time to think, Babalade reconfirmed his commitment to Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks, giving the program a huge win on the recruiting trail. With the offensive lineman on board, South Carolina’s cycle ranks as the 17th-best group in the nation.
Shane Beamer did (literally) everything possible to make that happen.