Why is Will Shipley leaving early for Clemson? It has a little to do with the calendar
Weddington High All-American Will Shipley said one of the reasons he decided to leave school early and enroll at Clemson was all about the calendar.
Clemson opens the 2021 season at Bank of America Stadium on Sept. 4 when the Tigers will play national power Georgia, and Shipley really wants to play in that game.
He told The Observer on Monday that he’ll graduate high school early and will enroll at Clemson on Jan. 3.
“Leaving in January,” Shipley said, “lets me get focused on getting ready to become a student-athlete at Clemson and to get on the field early and get some touches against Georgia in Panthers’ stadium next year. I’m really looking forward to that, being back in the hometown and putting on for everybody who helped me to get where I am.”
As a junior last season, the 5-foot-11, 200-pound Shipley ran for 2,066 yards and 31 touchdowns. He led Weddington to an unbeaten season and a second straight N.C. 3AA state championship. He ran for 256 yards on 26 carries and four touchdowns in a 34-14 win over Lee County in the title game.
Shipley was the 2019 N.C. Gatorade player of the year and The Charlotte Observer offensive player of the year. He was also named a MaxPreps All-American.
He is the third elite talent out of the Charlotte area who has decided to leave early instead of staying to play his senior season. Vance High’s Power Echols, a two-time N.C. Associated Press defensive player of the year, announced previously that he would leave early for North Carolina. Last week, Myers Park QB Drake Maye announced that he, too, would leave early for UNC. Maye was The Charlotte Observer’s male athlete of the year.
The N.C. High School Athletic Association moved the start of high school football from August to February in response to the pandemic, forcing some athletes to choose to stay and play their senior seasons or go to college for spring practice.
“After sitting down and talking to the coaches at Clemson and (Weddington) Coach (Andy) Capone, I think it’s best for me to up there and do what I want to do,” Shipley said, “to play early and make an impact when I get on campus. So this is something I needed to do to make sure I’m the best version of myself.”
Shipley is ranked as the No. 3 player in the state overall, No. 24 nationally and No. 1 among all-purpose running backs by 247sports.
“Knowing all my teammates, all my coaches at Weddington,” he said, “they have helped me to get where I am and there’s nothing I can do to repay everybody, and hopefully one day I can make it big so everybody can look back and say, ‘Hey, I knew that kid in high school.’ ”
Shipley committed to Clemson on May 5 and said he “never thought once” about flipping to any other school.
“Rumors are rumors,” he said.
And Shipley said with this decision to go to college, he feels a sense of relief.
“It’s just about the amount of times I’ve been asked,” he said, “and instead of saying, ‘We’ll be making a decision,’ I can tell them, ‘I’m enrolling early and leaving in January.’ ”
This story was originally published October 19, 2020 at 4:36 PM.