South Carolina running backs have built a brotherhood this season as controversy surrounding Rahsul Faison builds with season looming.
Controversy has mired the South Carolina running back room in 2025 as staff, players and fans alike await the NCAA’s decision on Rahsul Fasion.
Until decision time comes, it’s business as usual among the Gamecock running backs.
Get the inside scoop on all things Gamecocks for just $1 for 7 days—lock in this special offer!
“We’ve been positive around here. We expect good news to come,” running backs coach Marquel Blackwell told GamecockCentral. “But at the end of the day, we got a good group. A good group of young men that got a lot of love for each other. So they’ve been steady. Everybody’s been good.”
The group has rallied around Faison since the beginning. The support has gone so far that Oscar Adaway III coined a phrase, “Free ‘Sul,” that has picked up steam across social media.
“Tell him to stay prepared, don’t get into it,” Adaway told GamecockCentral. “…I actually started the hashtag ‘Free ‘Sul,’ and when I started it, everybody was like ‘Free ‘Sul.’ I was like ‘Free ‘Sul til it’s backwards.’ It’s still free ‘Sul, though. Shoutout (to) ‘Sul.”
Faison recently received a waiver from the NCAA, clearing him to practice with the team. However, the seventh-year senior still waits on clearance to play during the 2025 season.
Senior Nathan Harris-Waynick described the love and connection in the position group as “a brotherhood.”
“Everybody looks out for each other,” junior transfer Isaiah Augustave told GamecockCentral. “If he (Harris-Waynick) got something going on, he can come back to talk to me and we all just do that for each other.”
Adaway echoed Harris-Waynick and Augustave’s sentiment on the closeness of the running back room. “They’re my dogs,” Adaway said. “It’s all love between all of us.”
Adaway is the elder back in the South Carolina running back room. The graduate senior began his college career in 2019 with North Texas and spent five seasons with the Mean Green. After transferring to South Carolina in 2024, Adaway earned playing time behind then-starter Raheim “Rocket” Sanders.
In his role with the Gamecocks in 2024, Adaway rushed for 295 yards on 77 carries, good for third on the team behind Sanders and LaNorris Sellers. He also caught 145 yards worth of passes, and his 15 receptions were tied for sixth-most on the team.
Adaway’s experience at the collegiate level allows the seventh-year senior to take a larger leadership role in the locker room.
“Not just from playing all the time, but leading with experience,” Adaway said. “And also doing what’s right and everything.”
South Carolina’s group of running backs is going to work together regardless, Blackwell said.
“We’ve got a term that we use. ‘Give up ourselves for the benefit of others,'” Blackwell said. “When one guy’s out there, we’re gonna cheer for them. When he comes out, we’re gonna cheer for the next guy.”
Adaway’s impact doesn’t stop at his leadership skills. Run game coordinator and tight ends coach Shawn Elliott credited Adaway’s work ethic as well.
“There’s been times when I’ve seen Oscar Adaway come in here in this facility at 11 o’clock at night to get extra work in,” Elliott said.
Additionally, transfers like Augustave provide new insight into the room. Augustave joined the Gamecocks from Colorado in mid-June.
“I would say Coach Prime (Deion Sanders), he teaches his players over there how to properly play football,” Augustave said. “The correct way to play football and how to be a man. That prepared me for here.”
Naturally, when Augustave joined South Carolina’s team a few short weeks ago, he fit right in.
“With (Isaiah), he came in here and fit just like he’s been here,” Harris-Waynick said. “…We were close last year, but we tried to get a little bit closer. Just tighten everything up.”
The group enters 2025 with a chip on their shoulder, Harris-Waynick said. After losing their leading back to the NFL, the group has to find a new leader.
“Just, everybody doubting us, so we got something more to prove this year,” Harris-Waynick said.
That edge translates to the weight room and practice field as the team heads into fall camp.
“You know, I think the running backs have worked extremely hard,” Elliott said. “Both in the meeting room and on the field … I think all those guys have done an incredible job in getting prepared for this season. I think when I look back to last season, I wouldn’t say the whole group was like that. But this group has been real steady in their progression, and they’re ready to go.”
Discuss South Carolina football on The Insiders Forum!
Category: General Sports
