South Carolina tailback target knows his college of choice, sets decision date

Running back Peyton Lewis of Salem, Virginia said Wednesday night that he’s made a decision on his future college and plans to announce that choice on May 27. Lewis had a final six of South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Georgia, Penn State and Florida.

Lewis (6-1, 190) had set official visits to USC for June 9 and Tennessee June 23, but he said there’s no reason to take more visits or wait any longer on his decision.

“After talking with my family, it seems that we all have common interest in a few schools,” Lewis said. “At one point the recruitment process started getting overwhelming and stressful, so I had to take matters into my own hands and take it to a pace where I can control it. I decided to narrow down my schools, and it seems that we all had interest in a school that I really liked, and I figured I’d stop the process and make it public by the end of this month.”

Lewis unofficially visited all of his top schools except Florida, and the one he settled on had several factors that stood out to him.

“The impact that the coaches and everybody else a part of the program had on me and my family,” Lewis said. “I have been in and out of this state, and it was kind of second home for me. I was really surrounded by great people and had great experiences when I’ve been up there. It was kind of one of those places that was already a second home for me.”

Lewis said he told the coaches at his chosen school of his plans to commit, and they came back with a plan for him.

“Originally I was probably going to do it and make it public sooner, but this school actually suggested, because they have an event coming up, that I would go to the event, go there with other guys that are committed and other people that they feel are about to commit, too,” Lewis said. “They said I could go to that event and that’s when they would make it public.”

Other than those coaches, Lewis said he plans to keep his decision private until his announcement.

“I’m sort of keeping it to myself. I don’t want crystal balls or anything like that,” Lewis said. “I had told a school that I wasn’t going to make it to one of their official visits and then a thousand crystal balls came out. I’ve been keeping it secret for the most part.”

Lewis rushed for 1,560 yards and 17 touchdowns last season. He is also a standout on the track and was part of the Nike Indoor National Champion 4-by-200 team. In the same event, he placed second in the 60 meters in 6.73 seconds.

Lewis is one of three primary running back targets for USC for the 2024 class along with Daniel Hill of Mississippi and Anthony Carrie of Tampa.