South Carolina football will take the field for the first time in the 2025 season on August 31st when the Gamecocks take on the Virginia Tech Hokies in Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta. That means kickoff is just 20 days away.
Arguably, the best player in program history to wear the number at South Carolina didn’t play that long ago. The next name on the countdown to the 2025 season is running back Kevin Harris.
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An underrated prospect out of high school, Harris had just one power conference scholarship offer in the class of 2019. Thankfully for the Gamecocks, Will Muschamp’s staff saw something in the Georgia native. He rewarded his new coaches’ collective faith in him.
As a freshman, Harris was behind veteran backs Rico Dowdle and Tavien Feaster but still managed to find the end zone four times, including a 147-yard, three-touchdown performance in his debut. An injury and the positional logjam limited him to just six games.
In 2020, though, the man nicknamed “The Bus” (because of his combination of size and speed, just like Pittsburgh Steelers legend Jerome Bettis, who held the nickname first) became the featured back. In a weird Covid-shortened season that included 10 games against SEC opponents, Harris led the conference in rushing yards per game (113.8) and posted the 11th 1000-yard season in school history. Despite seeing action in just those 10 games, Harris had the second-most rushing touchdowns ever by a Gamecock, as he found the end zone 15 times. His 243-yard, five-touchdown performance against Ole Miss might be South Carolina’s best single-game effort on the ground.
2021 was marred by injuries, but Harris led the Gamecocks in rushing anyway. He logged two more 100-yard performances as a junior. That included 182 yards and a score against North Carolina in the Duke’s Mayo Bowl victory. It would be his final game at South Carolina. Harris finished his career with 28 games played but managed to rush for just under 2000 yards and 23 touchdowns.
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During his time in Columbia, Harris earned first-team All-SEC honors (becoming the only USC running back other than Marcus Lattimore and Duce Staley to do so) and was the recipient of the Blanchard-Rogers Trophy as the top collegiate player with ties to the state of South Carolina. He remains the only player to post multiple 200-yard performances in the same season. Only George Rogers (three) had more total 200-yard outbursts than Harris.
Following a decision to forego his senior season, Harris earned selection in the 2022 NFL Draft. He spent three years with the New England Patriots but was a free agent heading into the 2025 preseason.
