South Carolina makes top five for elite running back prospect

On Thursday, 4-star running back prospect Carsyn Baker released his top five favorite schools in conjunction with a graphic from On3’s Hayes Fawcett, and South Carolina cracked the list. Joining the Gamecocks are the rival Clemson Tigers, Florida State Seminoles, Ohio State Buckeyes, and Georgia Bulldogs.

On3’s industry ranking–a weighted average of the four major recruiting media services–considers Baker the nation’s No. 198 overall player in the class of 2026. He’s also the No. 16 running back and the No. 25 recruit in the talent-laden state of Georgia.

Baker has been a major target for USC for some time. He has visited campus multiple times, and the Gamecock coaching staff has been in to see him at Langston Hughes High School outside of Atlanta.

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The 6-1, 195-pound ballcarrier has speed to burn in the open field. He’s run 100-meter track times in the 10.6-range, and that burst allows him to run past defenses on the gridiron. Baker also already has decent size for a running back and has a frame that can carry more weight.

The Gamecocks do not have a running back committed so far in the ’26 cycle. They hope Baker will be the one to change that.

He told GamecockCentral in February that South Carolina is “sitting in a great place” in his recruitment. That “great place” has the Gamecocks firmly in the mix for his services. The On3 Recruiting Prediction Machine gives USC the second-best chance of landing Baker, behind only Clemson. However, all five schools in his top five are in the running.

Georgia and Florida State have been factors for quite some time, as well. Ohio State has made a move recently. Baker has official visits scheduled to Ohio State, Clemson, Florida State, and Texas A&M, but he has said on numerous occasions that he will take OVs to South Carolina and Georgia, too.

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