South Carolina admits to having admission standards

South Carolina has decided to clarify their admission standards. The clarification was naturally prompted by a rant from South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier. Spurrier was upset that two of his signees didn't make it into school.

"As long as I'm the coach here, we're going to take guys that qualify," Spurrier said Aug. 5. "If not, then I'm going to have to go somewhere else. I can't tell a young man he can go to school here, he qualifies and then doesn't get in. And we did that this year."

When your admission standards are criticized in the SEC, you've got problems.

'I'd admit it.'

The school set up minimum standards, a 'three of five rule' and then allowed a small number of students to apply for a contract review if they failed to meet the '3 of 5.' These students are usually referred to as bluechips or difference makers.

Now South Carolina has had special exemptions in the past. If you were a descendant of John C. Calhoun, Wade Hampton or Benjamin Tillman, you were automatically admitted. When integration finally occurred in the 1960s, the university was forced to make some changes. You can't expect Wade Hampton VII to be able to cover Clemson's Denmark Vesey VII.

So they made a Solomon like compromise and decided to grant favorable admissions to any black descendants of Strom Thurmond.

Win/win.