South Carolina football reveals first SEC-mandated ‘availability’ report. Take a look

South Carolina will be involved in a pair of firsts as it takes on Kentucky on Saturday.

No. 1 — It will be the first SEC matchup since the conference added Texas and Oklahoma, expanding to 16 teams.

No. 2 — The Gamecocks and Wildcats will be the first SEC teams to submit mandatory student-athlete availability reports.

Here is South Carolina’s initial availability report ahead of its game against Kentucky:

▪ OUT — OL Jakai Moore ... QUESTIONABLE — DB Emory Floyd; LB Bangally Makara; DB David Spaulding; edge Gilber Edmond. ... PROBABLE — Edge Bryan Thomas

Kentucky’s first availability report was listed as:

▪ OUT — RB DeaMonte “Chip” Trayanum; DL Darrion Henry-Young; OL Courtland Ford; WR Hardley Gilmore IV; DL Josaih Hayes; DL Tavion Gadson. ... DOUBTFUL — WR Brandon White; LB Devin Smith. ... QUESTIONABLE — DB DJ Waller Jr. ... PROBABLE — DL Keeshawn Silver; RB Jamarion Wilcox; ILB Grant Godfrey; TE Josh Kattus.

Schools must also provide an update on Thursdays and Fridays before a game, then a final “Game Day Update” no less than 90 minutes prior to kick off.

The South Carolina and Kentucky matchup is the only one involving two SEC teams this week.

“I hadn’t thought about that, that we get to submit the first report,” South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer said on the SEC teleconference on Wednesday. “That’s quite the milestone.”

The policy went into effect less than a week ago, with the SEC releasing a 12-page document that outlines the rules, procedures and penalties that go along with the availability reports.

Beamer noted that he and the Gamecocks coaching staff meet every day at 4 p.m. and, as part of that, athletic trainer Clint Haggard will detail the injury situation. He said that Haggard will likely just show Beamer list of guys who will be on the report and how they’re going to designate each player (out, doubtful, questionable or probable) then have the head coach OK it.

And, to be clear, it is an availability report, not a strictly an injury report. So a player could be listed as “Out” because of a suspension or eligibility issue.

What prompted the change, at least for Beamer, is simple.

“The reason’s gambling, let’s just be real,” he said during the “Carolina Calls” radio show last week. “It is what it is, which I have no problem with. I think wanting to have all that out on the forefront now, I have no problem with it.

“When I was an assistant coach at Virginia Tech, one of those years in the ACC, we had to do it, so I’ve been around it. I think the concern among coaches in our league when we discussed it at our league meetings in Destin (Florida) was just making sure that everybody was honest and transparent.”