South Carolina Football: Top running back surprisingly enters transfer portal

South Carolina football fans have heard a lot of rumors about players from their favorite team hitting the transfer portal. Some of those rumors had some legitimacy, while others did not.

One name that had not been talked about as a transfer portal possibility was running back Mario Anderson. Yet, on Wednesday, the surprising news broke around lunchtime that Anderson was signing with an agent/NIL representative and was hitting the transfer portal.

In the modern world of NIL and the transfer portal, nothing should come as a big surprise, but somehow, this potential departure from Mario Anderson is just that.

Everything seemed to be good with Anderson (he was given a chance from the D-II ranks, he got a chance to play for his dream school, and he was the starting running back at an SEC program). However, seemingly out of nowhere comes the decision from the Gamecocks’ starting running back to enter the transfer portal.

After taking a few weeks to crack the starting lineup, Anderson went on to rush for over 700 yards, the most from a single ‘back in garnet and black since Kevin Harris’ SEC-leading 2020 campaign.

While entering the transfer portal does not mean that a player has to leave his current program, there has not been another Gamecock who officially entered the portal and then returned to Shane Beamer’s program.

Anderson’s portal entry comes on the heels of rumblings that the Gamecocks could be one of the favorites to land Arkansas transfer running back Rocket Sanders. Whether the two players’ fates are related likely never will be known, but adding a big-time ball-carrier like Sanders becomes a need for the South Carolina football program if Anderson, indeed, is no longer a Gamecock.

The Gamecocks are expected to take at least one running back in the portal (whether it is Sanders, someone else, or multiple players), and they are hoping to reel in one more high school commitment to go with 4-star commitment Matthew Fuller. 4-star prospect Daniel Hill is announcing his commitment in January at the All-American Bowl.