South Carolina coach Steve Spurrier said Wednesday it would be a university decision on whether suspended quarterback Stephen Garcia would return in the fall, but it’s clear that the door remains open.

Garcia will be required to meet certain guidelines set forth by university president Harris Pastides, athletic director Eric Hyman and Spurrier.

“We’ve all three given him guidelines, and we’ll see how he follows those,” said Spurrier, adding that a decision on Garcia probably wouldn’t be made until this summer.

Spurrier said he’s talked with Garcia recently and that Garcia is on track to graduate in May as long as he passes the courses he’s taking this semester.

“With his degree in hand, he’s eligible to play anywhere in the country and he’s got another year remaining,” Spurrier said. “Hopefully, it will work out that he’ll be back with us with maybe a lot better attitude than he’s ever had.”

Garcia, who would be a fifth-year senior, has been suspended five different times during his career, including twice this spring. The final time came earlier this month after he became disruptive at an SEC-mandated leadership seminar and was asked to leave. Garcia later admitted to Spurrier that he’d been drinking beforehand while celebrating a teammate’s birthday.

With Garcia in limbo, Spurrier made it clear that he's a believer in sophomore Connor Shaw, who ended the spring as the Gamecocks’ No. 1 quarterback.

“Certainly, if Stephen doesn’t make it back, we have complete confidence that Connor Shaw can run this offense and be a very good quarterback,” Spurrier said. “We think he just needs a lot of playing time, a lot of experience and a lot of snaps. Hopefully, he’ll do that this summer.

“I’ve really encouraged him. We’ve given him a plan. We’ve given all of our quarterbacks a plan throughout the summer. I’m not sure we’ve followed them very well. Hopefully, Connor will follow the plan of throwing maybe 100 balls every day, five days a week, and watch a little tape here and there on his own. If he does that, he’ll be ready to play.

“We’ll see how it all works out come August, I guess.”