South Carolina Football: Veteran transfer running back joining Gamecocks

The Early Signing Period for college football began on Wednesday, and National Letters of Intent have been flying in from all over the country. While most of those NLIs are not sent in via fax machine anymore, commitments are not official until paperwork is completed. The South Carolina football program is hoping to have most of their class secured by the end of the Early Signing Period.

One of the players in the class who made things official is 3-star transfer portal running back Oscar Adaway.

Position: RB
Recruiting Ranking: 3 stars (On3, 247Sports)
Measurables: 6'0"; 210 pounds
Former Player Comp: Mario Anderson

Oscar Adaway is a veteran running back who will help fill the holes in the Gamecock running back room. A thick back who can run between the tackles and catch the ball out of the backfield, Adaway will be able to fit into the Gamecock offense as a compliment to fellow transfer portal addition Rocket Sanders.

Adaway was not thrown the ball much at North Texas, but he played wide receiver some in high school. In the passing game, the 2023 Gamecocks struggled with drops and fumbles from the running back position. Adaway's experience catching the football in space should help alleviate that issue.

Physically, Adaway profiles very similarly to former Gamecock Mario Anderson. Anderson, who just committed to Memphis out of the transfer portal, was strong and ran hard, and that is also true of Adaway. Adaway is a better receiver out of the backfield than Anderson, and he probably doesn't have quite as much burst as Anderson, but the two players are similar enough that it is as if he is taking Anderson's place on the roster (though the Gamecocks have more running backs now, so the role should be smaller).

Next fall should see the Gamecocks have better luck running the ball than they did in 2023. Adaway will be part of that improvement, and he could be in line for a lot of the short-yardage carries to help keep Rocket Sanders healthy.

You can watch some of his film here.