South Carolina earns transfer portal commitment from former Penn State running back
South Carolina football hired Stan Drayton as the team’s assistant head coach and running backs coach in December. One of two former Penn State assistants to make their way to Columbia this offseason (along with defensive ends/outside linebackers coach Deion Barnes), Drayton has now landed a pair of former Big Ten running backs in the transfer portal this cycle.
Following a Friday pledge from Ohio State’s Sam Dixon, on Sunday, South Carolina earned a commitment from former Penn State rusher Jabree Coleman. On3’s Hayes Fawcett first reported the news.
Coleman, a four-star prospect in the class of 2025, played for Drayton at Penn State last fall. With a pair of All-Big Ten running backs ahead of him, he did not see game action and took a redshirt.
Listed at 6-0 and 212 pounds with a solid frame, Coleman brings some size to the running back position. Coming out of high school in Pennsylvania, he was known as a tough, between-the-tackles runner who rushed for over 1000 yards three times as a prep player. That hard-nosed style was why he originally committed to Georgia before flipping to Penn State.
According to the On3 Transfer Portal Industry Ranking, Coleman is the country’s No. 400 overall transfer prospect. He also ranks as the No. 41 running back available this cycle.
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Coleman will join a running back room set to have four other scholarship players in 2026. The Gamecocks will trot out a pair of rising redshirt juniors in Jawarn Howell and Isaiah Augustave and two rising redshirt sophomores in Matt Fuller and Sam Dixon.
Previously this offseason, head coach Shane Beamer lamented his team’s lack of running back depth. Now with five players in the room, he can feel a lot better about his team’s situation at the position. Coleman will be the least experienced of the bunch, but he is a talented back with a potential bright future.
Also on the South Carolina transfer portal commit list are wide receiver Jayden Gibson (Oklahoma), defensive tackle Jordan Thomas (Georgia), center Carter Miller (UCF), offensive lineman Hank Purvis (Purdue), kicker Upton Bellenfant (Texas Tech), defensive back Quay’Sheed Scott (Kentucky), offensive tackle Jacarrius Peak (NC State), offensive lineman Emmanuel “Kojo” Poku (ECU), running back Sam Dixon (Ohio State), wide receiver Nitro Tuggle (Purdue), offensive lineman Dayne Arnett (Ferris State), defensive tackle Tomiwa Durojaiye (Illinois), long snapper Emmet Rhoades (Western Carolina), offensive lineman Seth Smith (Northern Arizona), defensive lineman Kelby Collins (Alabama), and EDGE Drew Collins (Arkansas State).