Clemson and South Carolina are locked in on the same running back, Carsyn Baker (6-2 190) of Fairburn, GA. The Gamecocks were on him earlier, made an earlier offer, and moved to the top of his list. Now, after a visit from Baker earlier this month, the Tigers are also very much in the hunt.
“I feel very close to Clemson since I have visited,” Baker said. “It was a great environment. It was different from every other college. Clemson really sticks out with the things they do and how different they are from other colleges. It’s definitely going to be a factor for me after the visit and what I saw from them and the different ways they run the program.”
Baker couldn’t make it last weekend to Clemson for the Elite Retreat, but he noticed the Tigers’ recruiting surge from the weekend.
“I was really supposed to go Saturday but I ended up not going because of a track meet,” Baker said. “They’ve got the momentum in their recruiting right now. They’ve been on me hard trying to get me there, and I’ve set an OV to return to Clemson.”
Baker rushed for 1282 yards and 15 touchdowns last season. Along with his size, he has excellent speed. Baker feels he has the talent combination at running back that’s been missing at Clemson.
“Clemson really didn’t have a home run hitter last year outside of Phil Mafah. Phil Mafah got the job done all around the field,” Baker said. “Me in that offense, I’ll be able to make the long runs to put pressure on with the speed I have. I’d be very impactful on the offense as a do it all back.”
Baker made four visits to South Carolina in 2024 and was back for a junior day in January, so he and running backs coach Marquel Blackwell are pretty close, and they talk often.
“Coach Blackwell, they just went on spring break, and me and Coach Blackwell talked yesterday about the spring practices,” Baker said. “You know they are losing Rocket (Sanders), and they’ll be losing some of their backs after this season, so me coming in, I’d have a great chance to start day one at South Carolina and be the man. And with my home run speed, they really don’t have that also, so I could be a very important part of the offense, and I’m wanted for the 2026 recruiting class they are building.”
Baker said he plans a return trip to Clemson this spring as well as other visits to USC, Georgia, Florida State and Ohio State. He has official visits set with Clemson May 30th, Florida State June 6th, Ohio State June 13th and Texas A&M June 20th. He has not yet set an official visit date with South Carolina. Those schools constitute his favorites at this point.