South Carolina running back Mario Anderson officially enters transfer portal
South Carolina running back Mario Anderson has entered the transfer portal after all, according to On3’s Pete Nakos.
The news that Anderson as expected to enter was first reported Wednesday by Nakes on X/Twitter but GamecockCentral was told shortly after that it was not a done deal yet that Anderson was leaving South Carolina.
That tone turned on Thursday afternoon when GC reported that Anderson was now leading towards actually following through with entering the portal, which he now has.
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The Summerville, SC native was added to be a depth piece in the running back room and he exploded. He finished the year with 143 carries for 707 yards and three touchdowns after transferring in from Newberry in January.
Anderson played in 11 of the team’s 12 games and was also named one of the weekly captains of the team on multiple occasions.
Wes Mitchell contributed to this report.
South Carolina Transfer Portal Resources:
- South Carolina Target Watchlist
- South Carolina Portal Tracker
- On3 National Portal Tracker
- Get portal news notifications with the App
Mario Anderson Bio
2022 First-Team Division II All-American (Associated Press)
* 2022 First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference
* 2022 Piedmont Division Offensive Player of the Year
Transfer who joined the squad in January and went through spring drills where he was one of only three scholarship running backs on campus… expected to hold onto a starting role in his second season in Columbia… spent the past four years at Division II Newberry College where he accumulated 3,301 yards rushing, third in school history, and 35 rushing touchdowns… earned first-team All-America honors and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2022… a two-time first-team all-conference performer… carried the ball 513 times averaging 6.4-yards per tote… rushed for over 100 yards in 16 of 29 games… has one year of eligibility remaining.
2022 (Redshirt Junior)
Named first-team All-America by the A.P., second-team All-America by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association, and first-team All-South Atlantic Conference at Newberry… one of nine finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy… named the Piedmont Division Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for a school record 1,560 yards, the sixth-highest mark in conference history… carried 211 times (7.4 per rush) with 19 touchdowns (second in school history and sixth in the country) in 10 games… averaged 156.0 yards per game on the ground, third in the country… rushed for over 200 yards against Catawba (246) and Lenoir-Rhyne (243) and had nine games of 100 or more rushing yards… set an NCAA record for rushing yards in a quarter with 201 versus Lenoir-Rhyne… scored a rushing TD in every game played… the Wolves, under head coach Todd Knight, posted a 9-2 record and won the conference title.
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2021 (Redshirt Sophomore)
Earned first-team All-South Atlantic Conference honors after rushing for 1,237 yards on 233 carries in 13 games for the Wolves… scored 12 rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.3-yards per carry… also caught 12 passes for 91 yards… Newberry posted a 10-3 record and reached the second round of the Division II playoffs.
2020 (Redshirt Freshman)
Played in all six games for Newberry… the Wolves posted a 5-1 record while playing in the spring of 2021, due to COVID-19… rushed 69 times for 504 yards, an average of 7.3-yards per carry… scored four rushing touchdowns… added three receptions for 19 yards.
2019 (Freshman)
Redshirted as a true freshman at Newberry.
HIGH SCHOOL
Graduated from Stratford High School in Summerville, S.C. in 2019… topped 1,100 yards in both his junior and senior seasons for the Knights, scoring 25 rushing touchdowns… as a senior, finished in the top 25 in the state in rushing yards… selected to the North-South All-Star Game following his senior season… coached by Dennie McDaniel… previously attended the Ginn Academy in Cleveland, an all-boys private school founded by Ted Ginn Sr.
PERSONAL
Mario Tony Anderson Jr. was born April 24, 2001… is a services management major… older brother, Davon, ran track at both Ohio State and Arkansas.
