Penalties revealed from NCAA recruiting violations involving former Gamecock staffer

Months after South Carolina’s director of player personnel Taylor Edwards resigned after violating NCAA rules, the school has revealed its punishment in the case.

South Carolina self-reported the Level III NCAA violation on Sept. 17, according to documents obtained by The State through a Freedom of Information Act request saying that “a football staff member communicated with a four-year college prospective student-athlete prior to obtaining authorization through the written notification of transfer process.”

As a result, the SEC penalized South Carolina by making USC decrease its number of recruiting days by four during the spring 2025 spring recruiting period.

The NCAA also issued its own action against South Carolina, saying the football program “is precluded from calling or sending written or electronic correspondence to any prospective student-athlete for a one week period.”

Days before South Carolina reported the Edwards-related violations, The State published a story including emails from a human resources employee at South Carolina writing that Edwards, who was making $300,000 annually, “committed serious violations of NCAA legislation.”

This story will be updated.