In the spring, Clemson fans were able to get a glimpse of most of the freshmen who enrolled early and participated in spring drills. In June, the rest of the 2020 signing class made it is way to Tigertown, including five-star running back Demarkcus Bowman.

In high school, Bowman was an electrifying running back at Lakeland High School in Florida where he rushed for 5,081 yards and averaged 11.4 yards per carry. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney compared his style of running to that of former Clemson running back C.J. Spiller.

“That’s pretty high praise. He’s a long way from that, but as far as just high school tape and explosiveness and track speed – legit track speed – the ability to catch the football… Every time he touches it, he literally can go the distance,” Swinney said.

Bowman is without a doubt the one everyone will be watching in fall camp, as he competes in a running back room that is loaded with talent. With two-time ACC Player of the Year Travis Etienne back, as well as Lyn-J Dixon, Bowman will be able to come into camp and slowly learn the offense and what is expected from Clemson’s running backs in its system.

“He is very special,” Clemson offensive coordinator and running backs coach Tony Elliott said. “He is probably going to draw a lot of comparisons to another great out of the state of Florida in C.J. Spiller. He has that dynamic speed, the ability to change the game at any moment. He’s a lot like Travis in that any time he touches the ball, he can go the distance.

“But what I really like about Demarkcus is he loves to run between the tackles, too. He’s a complete running back, can catch the ball out of the backfield. He loves the game of football.”

At Lakeland, Bowman became one of the best players in the country. He was rated as the No. 25 player nationally by 247Sports and the No. 2 running back. Rivals also ranked him as the No. 2 running back and had him as the No. 26 player overall.

The 5-foot-10, 190-pound running back earned his five-star status by averaging 161.5 yards per game and scoring 71 touchdowns in his career. As a junior he was the Class 7A Player of the Year as he led Lakeland to a 15-0 record and a state championship.

Bowman has elite speed, acceleration and explosiveness, which is what reminds Swinney of Spiller when he watches him play. Like Spiller, he was also a track star in high school, and has legitimate sub-4.5 speed and recorded a 100-yard time of 10.82 at The Opening in Orlando prior to his senior year.

“He can return (punts and kicks) and those types of things,” Swinney said. “I think there’s a lot of similarities between the two coming out of high school. He’s a little thicker probably than C.J. was, but he’s got that type of explosiveness, and it’s easy to see coming out of the system that he’s been playing in.”

Clemson players will report to fall camp on Wednesday.

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