COLUMBIA, S.C. -- Saying he was embarrassed by the university's rejection of two of his recruits, South Carolina football coach Steve Spurrier said Sunday he would leave the school if there are no changes made in the admissions process.

Spurrier opened his media day news conference by attacking the university's decision to deny admission to a pair of players who were qualified under minimum NCAA standards.

"As long as I'm the coach here, we're going to take guys that qualify," Spurrier said. "If not, then I have to go somewhere else because I can't tell a young man, You're coming to school here,' he qualifies, and not do that. And we did that this year."

Wide receiver Michael Bowman of Wadesboro, N.C., and defensive back Arkee Smith of Jacksonville, Fla., were turned down by the university's special admissions committee despite being NCAA-qualified.

Bowman caught on with East Carolina. Smith has talked with Minnesota, Georgia Southern and Bethune-Cookman since learning late last week his appeal had been denied. The high school coaches of both players said South Carolina officials never provided a reason for the rejection.

"I've got to apologize to two young men that we recruited. They qualified. They signed with us in February. They were denied admission to our school," Spurrier said. "Personally, I don't think that's the way you do business. I'm embarrassed that I and our coaches basically misled these young men into believing they were coming here."

Spurrier said he was not "blasting" South Carolina president Andrew Sorensen, whom Spurrier said has agreed to change the admissions process.

University spokesman Russ McKinney said Spurrier, Sorensen, provost Mark Becker, athletics director Eric Hyman and other officials have had ongoing discussions about streamlining the process so coaches can inform athletes sooner of their admissions status. In Smith's case, the player found out he lost his appeal a couple of days before the Gamecocks started preseason practice.

But McKinney said being NCAA-qualified does not guarantee an athlete admission.

"Our goal in the regular admissions process and any special admissions process is to try to be sure that every student admitted to the university can be successful and graduate," McKinney said. "It's not an arbitrary number on this score or that score."

After Bowman was denied admission last month, the athletics director at his high school, Fred Davis, told a North Carolina newspaper that Bowman was a victim of the Gamecocks' oversigning during recruiting season. South Carolina's top-10 recruiting class included 32 players -- five more than the Gamecocks were able to bring in this year under NCAA rules.

"There's a perception out there that South Carolina oversigned and they're just getting rid of guys. And that's not true. That's not true on our coaching staff," Spurrier said. "We had a plan in place to grayshirt if they all qualified. And we were going to do that. As it turned out, we're not going to have to do that right now."

Speaking for 3f½ minutes on the topic, Spurrier punctuated his points by jabbing his eyeglasses in the air. Though he carried a page of handwritten remarks to the microphone, he never referred to them.

Clemson coach Tommy Bowden had similar admissions frustrations when two prospects were turned down by a university committee in February on the eve of National Signing Day. Clemson president James Barker later initiated a review and revision of the entrance process.

McKinney said USC's special admissions committee, which consists entirely of faculty members, reviews transcripts of athletes and students with special talents - from the music or dance departments, for instance.

If athletes are denied, Hyman can appeal to Becker, who makes his decision with input from Sorensen, McKinney said.

Spurrier said he "begged and pleaded" with Becker two years ago to admit a pair of players, who started for the Gamecocks last season. Spurrier said this year the committee accepted one of three football players. He did not identify the player.

"In my opinion, we made a mistake in doing this. I'm not criticizing the president. He said we're going to change how we do it. But for our credibility - mine and the coaching staff - I just want the high school coaches, the parents of players and all them to know - that that's not going to happen here if I continue to be the coach," said Spurrier, who agreed to a contract extension last year that gave him a $500,000 raise and keeps him at USC through the 2012 season.

"I plan on being the coach here a long time. We can have a heckuva big-time college football program here at South Carolina if we want to do things the right way," Spurrier added. "Hopefully, and I truly believe this is the last year this is going to happen because I can't operate like that. I can't operate misleading young men."