Brayden Tyson is Shane Beamer, South Carolina's first high school RB commit in 2 years

COLUMBIA — South Carolina football has its first high school running back commit since 2024.

Brayden Tyson, a four-star back, from Snellville, Georgia, announced on May 15 that he will join coach Shane Beamer's program. The Brookwood High standout is ranked No. 38 in the state, for the Class of 2027, by the 247Sports Composite.

The Gamecocks hadn't brought in a high school running back since Matthew Fuller two years ago, a point Beamer brought up when discussing why he fired Marquel Blackwell after two seasons as the team's running back coach.

Blackwell was let go less than 24 hours after the first day of the early high school signing period last December. Former Penn State assistant, Stan Drayton, was hired as running backs coach a week later.

Tyson, who is 6-foot, 235 pounds announced his decision at a ceremony, where he placed a Gamecocks hat on his head. Florida State and Rutgers hats were also on the table.

According to MaxPreps, Tyson rushed 1,292 rushing yards yards on 163 carries, average 7.9 yards per carry his junior season. He scored 16 touchdowns, with his longest run 97 yards.

His sophomore season in 2024, he had 2,213 rushing yards with 26 touchdowns.

This is the ninth commit from the 2027 class for Beamer.

South Carolina's run game took a huge dip in 2025, which contributed to the 4-8 record and weak offense. The Gamecocks had the second-worst run game in the SEC, averaging 111.1 rushing yards. It was a major drop off from Blackwell's first year in 2024 when his offense produced the fourth-best run game in the SEC with 184.4 rushing yards per game.

Lulu Kesin covers South Carolina athletics for The Greenville News and the USA TODAY Network. Email her at LKesin@usatodayco.com. Follow her on X@Lulukesin and Bluesky‪@bylulukesin.bsky.social‬

This article originally appeared on Greenville News: 4-star RB Brayden Tyson commits to Shane Beamer, South Carolina football