COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) Highly regarded defensive tackle Josh Belk, who signed with Clemson then transferred to rival South Carolina a few months later, has decided to give up football because of a back injury.

Belk said on social media Wednesday he had fractured a vertebrae and decided "to choose another path in life."

South Carolina coach Will Muschamp said in a statement that he had talked with Belk and confirmed he was giving up football. It ends an eventful chapter for Belk, a 6-foot-3, 359-pound defensive tackle from Richburg, South Carolina. He was a four-star prospect out of Lewisville High and enrolled at Clemson in January 2018 and went through spring workouts.