Clemson-bound linebacker: Meet The Charlotte Observer’s boys’ prep scholar-athlete of the year
During some Providence football scrimmages, the Panthers didn’t call a play from the sideline.
It didn’t take long into the high school career of Billy Wilkes — a Clemson-bound linebacker and team captain — to figure out what coach Wes Ward was watching for in his opponents’ offenses. By the time he was a junior, Wilkes had mastered the ability to call out plays himself, even making mid-snap adjustments.
Wilkes, a Providence graduate who will suit up for the Tigers this fall, is The Charlotte Observer’s boys’ scholar athlete of the year.
“My dad went. I have two sisters who went there. My brother probably would have gone there if he didn’t play football at Campbell. I’ve had so much family go there,” said Wilkes, a lifelong Clemson fan. “Grew up going to games. It was always the dream.”
How the dream came true
Wilkes, who will study business at Clemson and moves to campus Sunday, is a preferred walk-on with the Tigers.
He initially had his mind on some lower Division-I schools, even many FCS teams. His older brother, Jack Wilkes, had played linebacker at Campbell University for five years following a stellar All-Conference stint at Providence.
Until Ward unexpectedly reached out to Clemson assistant Kyle Richardson.
“Coach Ward reached out to Coach Richardson, who’s the Charlotte area recruiter,” Wilkes said. “He’d told him a while ago that I’d possibly be interested in a preferred walk-on spot. And out of the blue, he called Coach Ward and said I had the spot.”
A legacy at Providence
Wilkes, who boasts a 4.3 GPA and a 33 (out of 36) ACT score, has been driven since he entered the doors of the suburban South Charlotte high school as a freshman.
On junior varsity as a freshman, Wilkes immediately excelled. He displayed exceptional efforts in practice, along with clearly having a deep knowledge of football.
Wilkes becomes the fourth straight Providence linebacker to play at the next level. In addition to his older brother, Jordan Fehr went on to play at App State and even had a stint on the Minnesota Vikings, and John Balas plays at Georgia Tech.
“(Wilkes) checked all the boxes,” Ward said. “He’s an awesome kid. You can overlook that sometimes. When you’re in the fire, you don’t really realize how special they are. I kind of realized that moving toward the back end of his senior year, just how special he was.”
This story was originally published June 21, 2024 at 5:30 AM.
