Five-star running back details "incredible" visit to Clemson for A&M game

Shipley walks the Clemson sideline before the win over Texas A&M.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Thu Sep 12 17:00:54 GMT-04:00 2019

Clemson’s victory over Texas A&M resonated with top running back target Will Shipley.

Clemson has a pair of offers out to running backs in the 2021 class at this point, and one of those, Phil Mafah of Loganville, GA, already has committed. The other with an offer is Shipley, a 5-star talent out of Matthews (NC) Weddington who took in his first game at Death Valley last weekend when the Tigers defeated Texas A&M.

Not only did Shipley get a better look at the program, but he also got a clearer understanding of where things stand between him and running backs coach Tony Elliott.

“I got there a little bit early on the first bus over to the complex and I got to sit down and eat lunch with coach (Dan) Pearman,” Shipley said. “I was on the first bus over to the stadium and I sat down and had a couple of minutes with coach Elliott, which was really, really cool, just trying to hash it out with him before the game to see what he was thinking. I got to see them run down the hill, hear Dabo’s (Swinney) pre-game speech and post-game speech. It was an incredible experience.”

One of the concerns for Shipley going into the visit was where he stood in the recruiting pecking order since Elliott already has the one running back commitment. What he needed to know with certainty was Elliott’s plan about taking a second back in the ’21 class, or if he likes him enough for another position, such as slot receiver.

“He told me they are going to recruit me,” Shipley said. “He had planned to take one running back in the ’21 class but coach Swinney gave him the go-ahead to go ahead and recruit me. I didn’t ask him too much into detail because we got into some stuff about the game. I just know they are going to continue to recruit me.”

And that was good news for Shipley as everything else on the visit added up to Clemson having a spot among his favorites he will announce after his season.

“It’s an awesome place, it’s got everything you can ask for,” Shipley said. “At this point, you really can’t make a bad decision. It’s definitely up there on my list. I have a group of six or seven schools and I think going there Saturday and just being in the atmosphere it definitely moved it up the list with me.”

Shipley said he had looked at going to South Carolina this weekend for the Alabama game but couldn’t get that worked out, so he may end up at the Florida State-Virginia game. He said he will get to South Carolina for a game this season. He will visit Notre Dame in October for the Southern Cal game.

Some of his other offers are NC State, Stanford, Duke, Wake Forest, West Virginia, Virginia, Florida, Georgia, Southern Cal, Arkansas, Vanderbilt, Notre Dame, Oregon, Tennessee, and Ohio State.

Last season Shipley accounted for 2000 yards of offense rushing and receiving along with 26 touchdowns.