South Carolina OL Tree Babalade plans to enter NCAA Transfer Portal

South Carolina offensive lineman Tree Babalade plans to enter the NCAA Transfer Portal, per On3’s Pete Nakos. Babalade spent three seasons with the Gamecocks.

In the 2025 campaign, Babalade made seven appearances and five starts. He began the season as a backup but was promoted to the starting lineup after Cason Henry suffered an injury early in the season.

In total, Babalade made 22 career appearances for the Gamecocks and 15 starts. Babalade preserved a season of eligibility in 2024 after only playing in four games. He has two years of eligibility remaining.

Tree Babalade plays high school football at DeMatha Catholic (MD), where he was a four-star prospect. He was the No. 221 overall player and No. 16 offensive tackle in the 2023 recruiting cycle, according to the Rivals Industry Rankings.

Babalade is the 10th South Carolina player to announce his intent to enter the transfer portal this offseason. After beginning the season ranked No. 13 in the country, South Carolina didn’t have an ideal campaign.

The Gamecocks finished 2025 with a 4-8 overall record and a 1-7 mark in conference play. Arkansas was the only SEC team with fewer wins in league play.

It was a significant step backwards for the Gamecocks, who finished the 2024 season with a 9-4 record and ranked No. 19 in the AP Top 25. While South Carolina will have to replace several players transferring out of the program, Gamecocks quarterback LaNorris Sellers has already announced he is returning next season.

With Sellers by his side, South Carolina head coach Shane Beamer is confident his team can succeed. After the Gamecocks’ loss to Clemson in their regular-season finale, Beamer promised to lead South Carolina to great heights next season.

“I hate that we’ve gone through this,” Beamer said on Saturday. “I hate it for the seniors that don’t come back. But I can one billion percent promise you this. When we have a hell of a season in 2026 and when I’m doing this press conference after the Clemson game next year and we finished a regular season because of the success that we’re going to have next season, I know we will.

“We’re going to look back at this season and say, ‘It sucked going through it. But, because of what we went through in ’25, it led us to what we just did in ’26.'”

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.