By admin 
You can debate when the story about LaNorris Sellers class schedule broke contain, but the moment it orbited in another universe came when sitting U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy — armed with almost no facts about the situation — decided to use Sellers’ story to support his amendment in the Protect College Sports Act.
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“We are seeing too many cases where the ‘student’ in student-athlete is becoming optional,” Cassidy wrote on X.
Cassidy was quoting a post from Gamecock247 reporter Hale McGranahan — which has over 2.2 million impressions — that said Sellers is not taking any classes this semester aside from an internship.
Like many other students at USC’s College of Hospitality, Retail and Sport Management (HRSM), he enters his final semester of college needing to only fulfill his six-credit, semester-long internship to graduate, which he’s expected to do in December.
After completing his practicum last summer, working alongside Contract Construction CEO Greg Hughes and helping with the Williams-Brice Stadium renovation, he’s interning this semester at the Par Tee Golf Center in West Columbia.
Of course, that fueled the fodder for those thinking Sellers was skipping out on his education. That, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said, couldn’t be further from the truth.
“The same people out there that are criticizing,” Beamer said, “failed to report that he’s been on the Dean’s List (GPA of at least 3.5) four times as a student here at Carolina, primarily taking in-person classes. (They) ailed to report that he has a chance to be an academic All-American … and that he’s about to graduate from South Carolina.”
Beamer went on to note that South Carolina’s football program has recorded its four-highest team grade-point averages (GPAs) across the last four semesters, with USC student-athletes combining for a 3.28 GPA in the fall 2025 semester and a 3.194 GPA last spring.
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“When you criticize one guy, you’re criticizing all of our players and what they’re doing from an academic standpoint,” Beamer said. “And our guys are doing a great job.”
This debate is not new.
Over two decades ago, Southern Cal quarterback Matt Leinart needed two credits to graduate heading into his final season of college football, creating a small media storm when he publicized that ballroom dancing was his lone class of the semester.
During Miami’s College Football Playoff run in January, Hurricanes’ quarterback Carson Beck said he graduated two years ago and wasn’t taking classes. While technically true, he took classes throughout the fall to stay eligible and was weeks away from declaring for the NFL Draft.
Heck, just one day after the Sellers’ story took off, Penn State quarterback Rocco Becht, who already has a degree from Iowa State, admitted he signed up for just a single online class in the fall, an omission that — naturally — Cassidy had to jump on to promote his amendment.
Sellers is not alone. Yet, the criticism heaped upon him was hefty likely — in the same way the media glommed onto Leinart’s story 21 years ago — the idea of an SEC quarterback playing Alabama on a Saturday and shagging range balls on a Sunday is a hilarious image.
“I hope he goes and has a hell of a time at the driving range,” Beamer said, “and hits 1,000 balls and does a good job over there because he’s earned it.”
This story was originally published August 26, 2026 at 5:04 AM with the headline “Shane Beamer defends QB Sellers after online hysteria over his class schedule.”
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