Texas football went into the NCAA transfer portal to add depth to a depleted running back room and is adding former SMU running back Velton Gardner to the 2024 football roster. The Dallas native announced late Wednesday on his personal Instagram account that he’s joining the Longhorns.
After suffering injuries in the running back room that have sidelined CJ Baxter and Christian Clark for the rest of the season, Gardner’s commitment comes at a crucial time as the Longhorns move into their inaugural season in the SEC.
Originally a Dallas Skyline product, Gardner started his college career at Kansas, joining the Jayhawks’ program as a member of the 2019 class. He was ranked as a three-star prospect, the No. 40 athlete in the nation and the No. 83 overall prospect in the state of Texas according to 247Sports.
Texas football’s newest addition spent three seasons with the Jayhawks before transferring to SMU. During his time in the Kansas program, Gardner played in 19 games, making six total starts while carrying the football 127 times for 519 rushing yards (4.1 yards per carry) and two touchdowns.
Gardner also caught 13 passes for 44 receiving yards before leaving Lawrence for the Hilltop.
After transferring into SMU with three seasons left of eligibility thanks to an additional season of eligibility granted to Gardner and other fall sports student-athletes impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 along with a redshirt season in 2021, Gardner played in eight games, starting one. He finished the 2022 season off with 70 carries for 368 rushing yards (5.3 yards per carry) and one touchdown as well as catching eight passes for 22 yards.
In 2023 Gardner played in 10 games, finishing his fifth season of college football with 137 rushing yards on 23 carries (6.0 yards per carry) and one touchdown. Gardner had a season-yard performance against Charlotte.
In total, over five seasons, Gardner has played in 37 career games with six starts en route to 1,024 rushing yards and six touchdowns on 229 carries (4.47 yards per carry). Gardner has also hauled in 22 receptions for 73 receiving yards.
Gardner entered the NCAA transfer portal on Feb. 12 and will have one season of eligibility remaining. After entering the transfer portal for the first time in February 2022, Gardner originally committed to and signed with Grambling State before he ultimately signed with and transferred to SMU.
One of the more dynamic athletes in the state during his time at Dallas Skyline, Gardner played quarterback in high school and put up impressive numbers during his three years of varsity play with the Raiders.
Garnder completed 62 percent of his pass attempts for 5,431 yards and 47 touchdowns against 19 interceptions. On the ground, Gardner carried the ball 427 times for 2,942 rushing yards (6.9 yards per carry) and 45 touchdowns.
Gardner is the third running back from the state of Texas to commit to Tashard Choice during his Texas tenure, joining Tre Wisner and 2025 three-star commit Rickey Stewart. Gardner is also the second running back to join the Steve Sarkisian-led Longhorns through the transfer portal and the first since Keilan Robinson in 2021.
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