July 29, 2005

University of South Carolina freshman Mychal Belcher has volunteered to sit out the fall semester, leaving the Gamecocks’ incoming recruiting class at the NCAA maximum 25 student-athletes, Head Coach Steve Spurrier announced today.

“I sincerely thank Mychal for volunteering to sit out the first semester,” said Coach Spurrier. “It would have been a difficult decision for us to find a player to sit out, but Mychal stepped up. This is the first time in my head coaching career that we have oversigned our scholarship limit,” Coach Spurrier continued. “The way recruiting kept going, we just could not turn down Jonathan Hannah, Mike Davis or O.J. Murdock, the last three players we signed. I can’t say enough about Mychal being a team player. We really appreciate what he did for the program and look forward to him rejoining the team in January.”

Belcher, a 6-1, 180-pounder from Spartanburg’s Dorman High School, was rated the 14th best player in the state of South Carolina last season by High School Sports Report. He passed for more the 1,200 yards and rushed for 810 yards in 2004 while earning all-state honors.

“I knew we were over the scholarship limit,” said Belcher. “Somebody had to volunteer, so I made the decision to help out the team. This will give me another couple of months to get bigger and stronger. Coach Spurrier thanked me and told me to use it as a positive,” continued Belcher. “I’m looking forward to coming back to USC in the spring.”

The 2005 Gamecocks are slated to report on Monday, August 1, with the first fall workout scheduled for Tuesday, August 2.