USC Recruiting

South Carolina lands commitment from productive 2024 running back out of Georgia

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South Carolina’s 2024 recruiting class has grown a little bigger.

Matthew Fuller, a three-star running back recruit from Wayne County (Ga.) High School, announced his commitment to USC via Twitter on Friday. Fuller’s decision came down to South Carolina and Georgia Tech, per SportsTalkSC.

Why South Carolina?

“The running back coach played in the NFL and knows how to produce NFL players and NFL running backs,” Fuller said. “It’s SEC. I want to play against the best of the best. They said they are going to use me inside zone, outside, counter, catch it out of the backfield, all of that. They like that I’m fast with good top-end speed. They need a back like me.”

The 6-foot, 210-pound Fuller ranks as the No. 45 running back and No. 593 overall recruit in the 247Sports Composite. Other notable offers included App State, Cincinnati, Coastal Carolina, Memphis, Minnesota and Tulane, among others.

Fuller is the 12th commit for a USC 2024 class that ranked No. 15 nationally and No. 5 in the SEC as of Friday. He’s also the team’s first 2024 commitment at running back, which is one of South Carolina’s more sparse position groups going into this season.

The Gamecocks extended Fuller an offer in May and he took an official visit to Columbia over the weekend of June 9. As a junior at Wayne County in Jesup, Georgia, he finished the year with 1,757 yards and 22 touchdowns on 257 carries. Fuller also lined up at linebacker, where he recorded 90 tackles (18 for loss), 7 quarterback hurries, 4.5 sacks, one pass break-up, an interception and a forced fumble.

South Carolina is expected to take two running backs in the class of 2024 as it looks to rebuild depth following the transfers of MarShawn Lloyd (Southern Cal) and Rashad Amos (Miami Ohio). The Gamecocks are the perceived front-runners for four-star running back Daniel Hill. The Mississippi product is expected on an official visit in Columbia this weekend.

— Phil Kornblut contributed to this story

South Carolina football 2024 commits

July 2, 2022: QB Dante Reno — Windsor, Conn.

Jan. 22: OT Kam Pringle — Dorchester, SC

Jan. 24: TE Michael Smith — Savannah, GA

Jan. 27: LB Wendell Gregory — Marietta, GA

Feb. 3: WR Mazeo Bennett — Greenville, SC

March 31: OL Blake Franks — Greenville, SC

April 14: OL Josiah Thompson — Dillon, SC

April 19: DB Kelvin Hunter — Florence, SC

April 19: CB Braydon Lee — Upper Marlboro, Md.

June 12: P Mason Love — Riverside, Mo.

June 17: LB Fred Johnson — Norfolk, Va.

June 23: RB Matthew Fuller — Jesup, Ga.

This story was originally published June 23, 2023 at 1:39 PM.

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Ben Portnoy
The State
Ben Portnoy is The State’s South Carolina Gamecocks football beat writer. He’s a 10-time Associated Press Sports Editors award honoree and has earned recognition from the Mississippi Press Association and the National Sports Media Association. Portnoy previously covered Mississippi State for the Columbus Commercial Dispatch and Indiana football for the Journal Gazette in Ft. Wayne, IN.
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