Quarterback must prove his worth after fifth career suspension
Summer conditioning has commenced for South Carolina football, and it has done so with Stephen Garcia in the fold.
The much-maligned incumbent starting quarterback, who was suspended indefinitely on April 6, was partially reinstated Monday in order to participate in the voluntary workouts.
In a release announcing Garcia's return, both USC coach Steve Spurrier and Athletics Director Eric Hyman were adamant in saying Garcia still has some work to do in order to be fully reinstated prior to the opening of preseason camp in August.
"Stephen is returning to the team on a probationary basis and still has to do some things here for the next two or three months to prove himself worthy of being a student-athlete at South Carolina," Spurrier said. "We will give him another chance, and hopefully he can do the right things and represent the university in a first-class manner."
In giving Garcia that chance, Hyman said the "main goal" is to help Garcia develop "the decision-making skills that are needed for managing life in general, whether as a student-athlete, a person, an employee, a spouse or a parent" through a series of undisclosed terms he must meet in order to receive full reinstatement.
"With assistance from others, we have developed a list of measurable guidelines for Stephen to follow," Hyman said. "I want to make it clear those guidelines, which will remain confidential, are designed to help him live a successful life and are not some trivial hoops for him to jump through in order to find a way to reinstate him.
"So the ball clearly rests in Stephen Garcia's hands."
Garcia's suspension, the fifth of his career at South Carolina, was due to an incident at a mandatory life skills seminar for athletes. Garcia reportedly arrived at the event with alcohol on his breath and caused a disturbance before being asked to leave.
Garcia missed the first week of spring practice earlier this year as punishment for a violation of team rules that occurred at the team hotel in the days leading up to USC's Chick-fil-A Bowl appearance against Florida State on New Year's Eve. He was suspended three times during his first two years on campus in 2007 and 2008 — all three were results of run-ins with law enforcement.
The Lutz, Fla., native has started 28 consecutive games for USC, going 17-13, including two straight wins over archrival Clemson and USC's first-ever appearance in the SEC Championship Game in December. He is currently third all-time in passing at USC with 6,753 yards.
The Gamecocks, who are coming off the first SEC Eastern Division championship in school history and are expected to be a Preseason Top 10 team in most major polls, open camp on Aug. 3.