Gamecocks add 4-star running back commitment, a former FSU pledge
South Carolina football has added its first running back to the Class of 2026 recruiting class.
Amari Thomas committed to Shane Beamer and the Gamecocks on Friday. Thomas is the 15th player for this year’s recruiting class but the first running back.
Thomas announced his choice at his high school and revealed by having on a T-Shirt with “Committed” on it and pictures of him in a South Carolina Gamecocks uniform.
Thomas picked South Carolina over FSU, Miami, Georgia Tech, Auburn and Florida. He’s a four-star recruit, according to the 247Sports Composite that factors in all networks.
Thomas, who plays at Blountstown High (Florida), committed to Florida State on Jan. 27 but continued to get offers from other schools, including South Carolina, which offered him in February.
And he said earlier in the week that he won’t be shutting down his recruiting, and he plans to take game day visits to other schools this season.
“I’m not going to count nobody out,” Thomas said. “I mean, you’ve still got December, so probably going to take some visits in September.”
Thomas said he has several game visits in mind for this season, but has not set those up. Some of the other schools to recruit him include Clemson, N.C. State, Florida, Kansas State, Mississippi State, Illinois, Indiana, Louisville and Virginia Tech
Thomas visited USC twice, including his official visit in May. He announced he was decommitting from FSU on July 18, almost a month after his official visit with the Seminoles.
“They tell me I’m an SEC back. That’s what they feel like,” Thomas said of the Gamecocks coaches in a June interview with SportsTalk’s Phil Kornblut. “They are confident in me. It’s not really nothing to it. They just tell me I’m an SEC back and I belong in South Carolina.”
247Sports Composite ranks the 5-foot-10, 187-pound Thomas as the 21st-best running back in the country for the Class of 2026.
Thomas played at Mariana High School the past two seasons before transferring to Blountstown for 2025. At Mariana, he had a pair of 1,000-yard seasons with 1,880 yards last year and 1,365 in 2023 with 56 combined TDs.
“What I will bring to the backfield is to be unstoppable,” Thomas said this week. “A player with a good mindset. That school is getting a good player, not just any good player. I wouldn’t be too cocky, but I call myself the best, just because of my confidence. They are definitely getting a good one, a great one.”
— Phil Kornblut contributed to this story
South Carolina 2026 football commitments
- Anthony Baxter (OL) — Committed on May 5, 2024
- Keenan Britt (DE) — Committed on Aug. 5, 2024
- Jamel Howse (TE) — Committed on Oct. 5, 2024
- J’zavien Currence (DB) Committed on Oct. 17, 2024
- Zyon Guiles (OL) — committed on March 20, 2025
- Aiden Harris (DL) — committed on June 7, 2025
- Andrew Harris (LB) — committed on June 7, 2025
- KJ Johnson (DB) — committed on June 9, 2025
- Sequel Patterson (WR) — committed on June 26, 2025
- Noah Clark (DL) — committed on July 2, 2025
- Kamari Blair (OL) — committed on July 16, 2025
- Triston Lewis (DB) — committed on July 17, 2025
- Landon Duckworth (QB) — committed on July 18, 2025
Kosci Barnes (DB) — committed on July 26, 2025
- Amari Thomas (RB) — committed on Aug. 8, 2025
This story was originally published August 8, 2025 at 4:18 PM.
