Gamecocks sign four RBs, three via transfer portal. Why the focus at tailback?
South Carolina added four running backs to its roster from on the early signing day Wednesday, three of them from the transfer portal: Raheim “Rocket” Sanders from Arkansas, Jawarn Howell from S.C. State and Oscar Adway III from North Texas.
Coach Shane Beamer told local media at his early signing day press conference that he hadn’t planned on signing so many backs from the portal. It just happened that way.
“I definitely knew we needed to sign two, but it really got to be a situation where you really don’t want to turn any of these guys away,” Beamer said.
Those three backs — plus high school signee Matthew Fuller — gave the Gamecocks four new faces at a position that traditionally adds no more than two per class, and sometimes none at all.
So why the focus on running backs — especially from the portal?
Beamer explained how finding the balance between recruiting high school players and college players in the portal is a delicate process. A staff starts by looking at the roster to see who all will graduate and/or declare for the NFL Draft at the end of the season. Then coaches must determine which position groups will need bolstering after those departures.
That brought Beamer and his staff to the running back room.
The Gamecocks run game struggled in 2023. USC had the worst rushing offense in the SEC last season and, in the last month, has lost leading rushers Mario Anderson and sixth-year senior Dakereon Joyner. Anderson accumulated 707 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 143 attempts this past season before leaving USC for Memphis via the transfer portal. Joyner rushed for 120 yards for five touchdowns on 50 attempts.
“We wanted to sign multiple (RBs),” Beamer said. “We obviously knew DK (Joyner) was moving on. The other one was a little bit of a surprise.”
South Carolina’s most productive returning running back is Juju McDowell, who ran for 63 yards on just 26 attempts having finished the season injured. Rounding out USC’s returning scholarship RBs is Djay Braswell, who had 25 yards on 12 attempts in six games in his freshman campaign.
“We knew we needed to increase the depth in that room,” Beamer said.
Sanders, Howell and Adaway do just that for South Carolina.
Sanders missed six games last season with a knee injury, but was one of the best rushers in the SEC as a true sophomore in 2022, accumulating 1,443 yards (averaging 6.5 per carry) and 10 touchdowns. Howell ran for over 800 yards on 102 carries (7.9 ypc) and scored nine touchdowns in his freshman season with the Bulldogs. Last season for the Mean Green, Adaway rushed for over 700 yards (averaging 6 per carry), six touchdowns and had 14 catches.
South Carolina’s new running backs
▪ Oscar Adaway III (5-10, 219; three-star transfer): Adaway comes to South Carolina by way of North Texas. He has two years of eligibility remaining. Last season with the Mean Green, Adaway rushed for over 700 yards (averaging 6 per carry), six touchdowns and 14 catches.
▪ Raheim “Rocket” Sanders (6-2, 242; four-star transfer): Sanders comes to South Carolina by way of Arkansas. He missed six games last season with a knee injury, but was one of the best rushers in the SEC as a true sophomore in 2022, accumulating 1,443 yards (averaging 6.5 per carry) and 10 touchdowns.
▪ Matthew Fuller (5-10, 205; four-star HS signee): Fuller, from Jesup, Georgia, is the No. 35 running back prospect in the nation. He committed to USC in June. Finished his senior season with 256 carries for 2,086 yards (8.1 ypc) and 27 touchdowns
▪ Jawarn Howell (6-1, 215, transfer): As a freshman this past season for the S.C. Bulldogs, Howell ran for over 800 yards on just 102 carries (7.9 ypc) while finding the end zone nine times.
