Will Shipley, the No. 1 prospect for the state of North Carolina in the 2021 class, will head south and play for the Clemson Tigers. On Tuesday, Shipley, a running back, committed to Clemson over in-state programs NC State and UNC, along with Notre Dame and Stanford on the national level.
Weddington (NC) 2021 RB Will Shipley @willshipley2021 commits to #Clemson
— Deana King (@NCPreps) May 5, 2020
247 Sports ranks the 5-star Shipley as the No. 24 overall player in the 2021 recruiting cycle. This is a nice get for Clemson, which saw its top 2021 prospect — 5-star defensive end Korey Foreman — decommit two weeks ago.
Clemson continues to find recruiting success in the state of North Carolina, too. When the Tigers won the CFP in 2017, Clemson’s roster featured 20 players from the Tar Heel State, including stud defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence.
Currently, Clemson has seven players on its roster from North Carolina, including former 5-star defensive end K.J. Henry, who hails from Winston-Salem. As a redshirt freshman in 2019, Henry recorded 2 sacks.
While playing for Matthews (NC) Weddington, Shipley ran 1,639 yards — 148 carries (11.1 yards per carry) — and 25 touchdowns during the 2019 season. He earned Gatorade Player of the Year honors for North Carolina, while also adding 509 yards receiving and nine touchdowns. Shipley helped lead Weddington to back-to-back 3AA state titles, too.
As a sophomore, Shipley ran for 1,417 yards and 19 touchdowns — with 393 yards receiving and six touchdowns.
(North Carolina star quarterback Sam Howell was named Gatorade Player of the Year for NC in the 2018 season. UNC linebacker Chazz Surratt also won the award in 2015.)
UNC recruited the in-state Shipley very hard; the same can be said for Dave Doeren and NC State, where Shipley has family ties. Both of his parents are alums of NC State.
However, after looking like a Notre Dame lean for a period of time, Shipley picked Dabo Swinney and the Tigers. Shipley will arrive to Clemson just as the program looks to turn the running back position over from the electric Travis Etienne.
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