Top NC running back looking for "prestigious" Clemson offer after camp showing

Shipley works out at camp last week

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Wed Jun 19 07:01:03 GMT-04:00 2019

Many recruits don’t mind waiting on a Clemson offer, feeling that makes the offer that much more prestigious.

One of those recruits is Will Shipley, one of the top running back prospects out of the state of North Carolina for the 2021 recruiting cycle.

Shipley (5-11, 183) out of Matthews (NC) Weddington worked out at head coach Dabo Swinney’s high school camp last week in the same group as fellow North Carolina back Evan Pryor (Hough HS) and Loganville (GA) Grayson back Phil Mafah.

“It was an incredible competition. Me and Evan Pryor are pretty close. We became close friends last year when both of us were getting looked at by some colleges, and then there was Phil Mafah,” Shipley told TigerNet. “It was just a bunch of dudes that you can compete against and kind of look at them and say, 'Hey, I can match up with them at this or I'm a little better at this or I can work on this.' It was a great group of guys. Coach (Tony) Elliott is incredible. Just getting to spend an hour-and-a-half with him, I learned so much from that, and I can take what I learned from that to the high school field and better myself.”

What did Elliott tell Shipley about an offer?

“He just told me that he's going to take this process slow like he's done with every class before me. He wants to make sure that he gets the right fit at Clemson,” Shipley said. “He was very transparent with me with how he feels about me and my family and I. He was awesome. He told me that he's only going to offer a couple of kids in my class like he's done since he's been at Clemson. That's just kind of what he believes in because he wants to get the right fit.

“He told me to be patient with him and let him finish up the camp season and get a couple of more guys through so he can evaluate with everything and then just keep in contact with him. He's been very clear with me about how he feels and just take it from where we are now and see how it progresses.”

He has offers from Georgia, UNC, NC State, Oregon UofSC, Penn St., Tennessee, Virginia Tech, and Wisconsin among others. However, a Clemson offer is worth the wait.

“I think a lot of recruits feel differently about it, but to me, in my opinion, it makes that offer that much more prestigious,” he said. “If you get that offer, you know you deserve it, you know you work for it and you know that coaching staff really does believe in you and thinks you fit into the program. I honestly like how they do it even though it can be tough from the recruit's standpoint. I like how they do it, and I look forward to keeping in contact with Coach Elliott, and hopefully, I get lucky, and I'm one of those few guys.

“They would definitely be high on the list just because of their reputation, their ability to compete every year for a national championship as well as raising academic standards throughout the football program and just having great people all around. The atmosphere, being in the ACC, it really does check all of the boxes.”

What does the rest of his summer look like?

“I'm doing a lot of lacrosse until July 14. I'm kind of two-timing with lacrosse and football right now, so it's really busy. I'll take a couple of more trips,” Shipley said. “I'm going to UNC this week, but I don't have much more planned. I've gotten invited to a couple of camps. I'm trying to make a trip to Alabama here pretty soon. Other than that, my summer is just kind of sitting back and relaxing and then I'll be going to a bunch of games.”