Mario Anderson

* 2022 First-Team Division II All-American (Associated Press)
* 2022 Second-Team Division II All-American (Conference Commissioners)
* 2022 First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference
* 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy Finalist
* 2022 Piedmont Division Offensive Player of the Year
* 2021 First-Team All-South Atlantic Conference

Transfer who joined the squad in January and went through spring drills where he was one of only three scholarship running backs on campus… expected to compete for a starting role in his first season in Columbia… spent the past four years at Division II Newberry College where he accumulated 3,301 yards rushing, third in school history, and 35 rushing touchdowns… earned first-team All-America honors and was a finalist for the Harlon Hill Trophy in 2022… a two-time first-team all-conference performer… carried the ball 513 times averaging 6.4-yards per tote… rushed for over 100 yards in 16 of 29 games… has two years of eligibility remaining.

2022 (Redshirt Junior)
Named first-team All-America by the A.P., second-team All-America by the Division II Conference Commissioners Association, and first-team All-South Atlantic Conference at Newberry… one of nine finalists for the Harlon Hill Trophy… named the Piedmont Division Offensive Player of the Year after rushing for a school record 1,560 yards, the sixth-highest mark in conference history… carried 211 times (7.4 per rush) with 19 touchdowns (second in school history and sixth in the country) in 10 games… averaged 156.0 yards per game on the ground, third in the country… rushed for over 200 yards against Catawba (246) and Lenoir-Rhyne (243) and had nine games of 100 or more rushing yards… set an NCAA record for rushing yards in a quarter with 201 versus Lenoir-Rhyne… scored a rushing TD in every game played… the Wolves, under head coach Todd Knight, posted a 9-2 record and won the conference title.

2021 (Redshirt Sophomore)
Earned first-team All-South Atlantic Conference honors after rushing for 1,237 yards on 233 carries in 13 games for the Wolves… scored 12 rushing touchdowns and averaged 5.3-yards per carry… also caught 12 passes for 91 yards… Newberry posted a 10-3 record and reached the second round of the Division II playoffs.

2020 (Redshirt Freshman)
Played in all six games for Newberry… the Wolves posted a 5-1 record while playing in the spring of 2021, due to COVID-19… rushed 69 times for 504 yards, an average of 7.3-yards per carry… scored four rushing touchdowns… added three receptions for 19 yards.

2019 (Freshman)
Redshirted as a true freshman at Newberry.

HIGH SCHOOL
Graduated from Stratford High School in Summerville, S.C. in 2019… topped 1,100 yards in both his junior and senior seasons for the Knights, scoring 25 rushing touchdowns… as a senior, finished in the top 25 in the state in rushing yards… selected to the North-South All-Star Game following his senior season… coached by Dennie McDaniel… previously attended the Ginn Academy in Cleveland, an all-boys private school founded by Ted Ginn Sr.

PERSONAL
Mario Tony Anderson Jr. was born April 24, 2001… is a services management major… older brother, Davon, ran track at both Ohio State and Arkansas.