South Carolina football lands productive transfer running back
After the news that running back Mario Anderson put his name into the transfer portal, South Carolina has seemingly found his replacement.
The Gamecocks landed a commitment from North Texas transfer tailback Oscar Adaway III on Tuesday, adding an experienced back to an RB room that boasts senior Juju McDowell and sophomore Djay Braswell.
Phil Kornblut of SC Sports Talk Network and The Big Spur were the first to report the news.
Adaway is the third commitment for the Gamecocks this week, joining JUCO defensive lineman Jerome Simmons and Coastal Carolina receiver Jared Brown.
“It’s a blessing,” Adaway told SC Sports Talk Network. “I’ve got two years left, but if I go into this next year thinking I have two years, I think I’m going to play like I have two years. I want to come here and perform as much as I can on the biggest stage in college football in my opinion. Coming to the Gamecocks and playing for coach Beamer, it’s a huge blessing.”
Adaway, who will transfer to USC with two years of eligibility remaining, is coming off a solid season for the Mean Green, rushing for for over 700 yards (6 yards per carry), a half-dozen touchdowns and 14 catches.
His college career, though, has not been smooth.
As a three-star prospect from North Little Rock, Arkansas, Adaway had no Power-5 offers and enrolled at North Texas in 2019.
He redshirted his first season before tallying 572 yards in the 2020 COVID season. A few months later, as he was gearing up for the 2021 season, Adaway tore his ACL during fall camp and never saw the field.
He returned to action in 2022. It was third season in college but — because of a redshirt year, a COVID year and a medical redshirt season — technically his freshman season.
He ran for 583 yards in 2022 before a better outing last season. But, in both, he was North Texas’ No. 2 running back behind Ayo Adeyi, who rushed for over 1,000 yards last year and also entered the transfer portal.
Adaway announced on Friday that he was taking a visit to South Carolina, saying he appreciated the opportunity from USC running backs coach Montario Hardesty.
Also on visits to South Carolina, GamecockCentral reported, were Arkansas transfer running back Rocket Sanders and Miami transfer Donald Chaney Jr.
— Phil Kornbut contributed to this story.
This story was originally published December 12, 2023 at 10:19 PM.
