These NC twins are South Carolina Gamecocks’ next set of football brothers
Aiden and Andrew Harris came into this world together, so it makes sense they chose to go to college together.
The Harris twins (identical, by the way) were born on April 2, 2008. Aiden was born first and is one minute older than Andrew.
“The doctors and my mom said when they were pulling me out, Andrew was holding onto my leg,” Aiden told The State.
OK, did that actually happen?
“Apparently,” Andrew said with a grin.
The two have been side by side ever since. And they both signed with Shane Beamer and South Carolina on Wednesday, the Gamecocks’ next pair of football brothers.
The Harris twins will be the fourth set of brothers on USC’s current roster, joining LaNorris and Jayden Sellers; Brandon and Cedric Cisse; and Jalon and Gerald Kilgore.
When they arrived at Weddington High School, located just outside of Charlotte, head varsity football coach Andy Capone knew he had a pair of future stars on his hands.
“Physically, as freshmen, they were super gifted,” Capone said. “We had to teach them how to get into the proper three-point stance and whatnot, but they were varsity players from the go and were in the rotation. By conference play, they were both starting for us because they were just that valuable for us defensively. So yeah, you could tell that they both had a chance to be great.”
The brothers developed exactly into the stars Capone thought they would. Last season, Aiden, who stands 6-3 and weighs 245 pounds, had 82 tackles (31 for loss) and was named The Charlotte Observer’s Defensive Player of the Year. Andrew, at 6-2, 235, totaled 81 tackles (25 for loss).
Weddington finished just short of a state championship game appearance last year with the Harris brothers and their cousin TJ Davis (a Notre Dame commit) leading the defense.
The twins had some college interest early on in their careers, then momentum built after “they started to blow up” during their sophomore year, Capone said. Soon enough, offers from major Power 4 programs — like LSU, Florida, Ohio State, Texas and Texas A&M to name a few — flooded in to both Aiden and Andrew.
Aiden is now a four-star recruit and ranked No. 9 in North Carolina, while Andrew is a three-star prospect who is No. 21 in his home state, according to 247Sports’ Class of 2026 recruiting rankings.
“You know how it is. You got one [offer], then you get 20,” Capone said. “It was heavy. Obviously, I’ve been through it with [Weddington HS alum and former Clemson RB Will] Shipley before, and it was probably to that extreme. ... When that live period was live, it was non-stop for them.”
The brothers both reported their offers from South Carolina publicly on Jan. 18, 2024. Aiden remembers he was offered a scholarship by the Gamecocks first and Andrew received one shortly after.
‘Come join us at some point’
An encounter with Beamer at a camp while Aiden was in middle school still sticks with him to this day.
“My first time meeting Coach Beamer, I was a little shocked,” Aiden said. “... I was in eighth grade, and I was down there for a camp, and when I got to shake his hand I was like, ‘I love it here.’ He was like, ‘Come join us at some point.’ It never really hit me, until I got older, what he meant. And I think two years after that, they offered me.”
The twins had a unique wrinkle to their recruitment. Aiden and Andrew had no plans of splitting up at the next level. They were a package deal and wanted to choose their college destination together.
If a school wanted Aiden but not Andrew, or vice versa, they were out of luck.
“It’s always been like that,” Aiden said.
“No ifs, ands or buts about it. … I couldn’t separate myself from my twin brother,” Andrew said.
Sure, there were moments where the twins considered taking their own paths during college, but it never really stuck. The prevailing thought: If there’s an opportunity to play together, why not do it?
“We feed off each other,” Andrew said. “Everything he does I watch, and I know not to do that or do that. He’s been a role model to me, I can say. We’ve always had each other back no matter what. Anything goes down, I’m there for him. Our bond is unbreakable.”
‘South Carolina is the place I want to be’
Relationships with Beamer, defensive coordinator Clayton White, defensive line coach Travian Robinson and defensive line assistant Jordan Dove kept South Carolina in contention for the Harris brothers. An official visit to Columbia in June cemented the decision: The Harris twins wanted to be Gamecocks.
“I can go anywhere in the country, but South Carolina is the place I want to be,” Aiden said.
They announced their commitment publicly June 7, though apparently Aiden had made up his mind long before that. Andrew told The State he found out from Dove on their official visit that his twin had been privately committed to South Carolina since March.
“I stopped and I looked at my mom and Aiden and I’m like, ‘So we’re just having secrets around here?’” Andrew recalled. “I was wondering why he was pushing me so hard to go to South Carolina. It was an everyday thing, waking up at like 6:30 in the morning … he’s just coming into my room talking about South Carolina.”
The twins are ready to get to Columbia and make an impact for Beamer and the Gamecocks. Both plan to enroll early in January and get to work with South Carolina right away.
Aiden, a defensive lineman, said he’s anticipating playing the three technique on the defensive line with the occasional rep at defensive end. Andrew expects most of his time to be spent at outside linebacker with some defensive line reps.
“Us being together for college it’s a special moment, for my mom as well,” Aiden Harris said. “It wasn’t even us just thinking about ourselves, it was our family. ...
“For us to be on the field together, and us to hear each other’s name get called after a tackle or play, that’s a special moment for us. That’s how we thrive.”
This story was originally published December 1, 2025 at 7:00 AM.
