Clemson football losing veteran running back to transfer portal
Clemson has its first offensive transfer portal entry.
Tigers running back Keith Adams Jr. plans to enter the portal, The State has confirmed. On3 Sports was the first to report the news. Adams, a redshirt junior, is in his fourth season at Clemson and is the son of former Clemson LB Keith Adams.
Adams played sparingly in 2025, carrying 14 times for 71 yards and a touchdown, and played zero offensive snaps in five of the team’s last six games. He played special teams only in four games and didn’t play at all vs. South Carolina.
The fourth-year running back was relegated to a deep backup role as senior. Converted wide receiver Adam Randall emerged as Clemson’s starting running back and true freshman Gideon Davidson as his heir apparent. Backup running back David Eziomume also took significantly more snaps than Adams.
Adams ends his Clemson career with 274 rushing yards and two touchdowns in 32 games. He took snaps as a running back and short-yardage fullback with the Tigers after joining the team as a three-star 2022 recruit from Utah.
Adams’ dad, Keith Adams, was a two-time All-America linebacker at the school in the 1990s. Keith Adams still holds Clemson single-season records for tackles, tackles for loss and sacks and is in the school’s athletic hall of fame. Keith Adams was the 1999 ACC Defensive Player of the Year and played seven years in the NFL.
The NCAA transfer portal window runs for 15 days from Jan. 2-16, 2026. Players cannot formally enter their name into the portal until Jan. 2, although hundreds will declare their intent to transfer earlier than that date.
Once they are formally in the portal, player can commit to a school at any point. There is no spring transfer portal window, as the NCAA abolished it last fall.
Clemson football 2025 transfers
- ATH Marquise Henderson (offseason)
- DB Shelton Lewis (mid-season)
- LB Dee Crayton
- RB Keith Adams Jr.
This story was originally published December 9, 2025 at 9:26 AM.
