Five-Star Running Back Will Shipley Commits To Clemson

Five star running back Will Shipley, the top all-purpose back in the country, committed to Clemson on Tuesday, giving Dabo Swinney and the Tigers their tenth commitment of the 2021 recruiting class.

The Tigers added to their 2021 recruiting class on Tuesday when running back Will Shipley committed to Clemson. The five-star prospect out of Weddington High School in Matthews, N.C., chose the Tigers over Notre Dame, Stanford and North Carolina, among others, although the Irish were the Tigers' biggest competition. 

"Yeah, so I'm committed to Clemson University and coach Swinney," Shipley told SI, in an exclusive interview. "I'm very excited to be to be all in you know."

Shipley said that is was a Zoom video call last week that sealed the deal.

"I think I got him on a zoom call with Coach Swinney. Coach Elliott, the running back coach. And I think that's when it really hit me. It's like, you don't find this opportunity. You know, it's once in a lifetime," Shipley said. "So I'm different enough for me to even think about passing up this opportunity. You know, I'd be delusional, the culture that coach Swinney has created the people that make up that culture. It's very, very special."

In addition to the culture, Shipley added that the fact the Clemson campus affords his family a chance to see him shine on the football field, and an opportunity to compete for national championships, was something he couldn't pass on.

"I know for me it's a it's a place I can go where the people from my town, the people that have helped me get to where I am today, where they can come watch me," Shipley said. "They can come see me to do my thing and put on for my people. It gives me an opportunity to win national championships and create relationships with guys that are very similar to me. You know, that will carry on through the rest of my life."

Shipley is the 10th commitment of the 2021 class for the Tigers and helps ease the blow of last week's decommitment of defensive end Korey Foreman, the number one player in the country, as well as not making the top three for the nations top QB, Caleb Williams on Monday.

Shipley's commitment strengthens a class that was already ranked as fifth-best in the nation, and second-best in the ACC, behind only North Carolina.

According to the 247 Composite Rankings, the 5-11, 195-pound Shipley is the 24th-best player in the country, regardless of position, as well as the fifth-best running back in the country.

He has already spoken his future coach at Clemson and has a good idea of how the Tigers will use his strengths.

"So Coach Elliott has, has spoken with me and it's a kind of a scat back," Shipley said. "I guess you would say, where, you know, I'm going to be getting, you know, runs in between the tackles. I'm big enough, I'm versatile enough for that, but he's also going to be able to split me out, use me a lot more in the passing game. Which you know, is gonna give them an advantage and make it a lot harder on defensive coordinators, you know, to not only focus on a one dimensional back, but you know, a versatile back that can do more than just running between the tackles."

He is the state of North Carolina's reigning Gatorade High School Player of the Year, after rushing for more than 2,000 yards and 30 touchdowns last season. He also had 582 receiving yards, along with eight more touchdowns, in helping his team to a state title. 

Prior to his junior season, Shipley wowed scouts at one of the Opening regionals by posting a 4.46 time in the 40-yard dash, a 4.21 time in the shuttle, and 36-30 vertical leap.

Shipley visited Clemson last January and had an official visit scheduled for Notre Dame in March. However, that visit was canceled to the COVID-19 outbreak, dealing a crucial blow to the Irish's recruitment of the elite-level back. It was a setback the Irish could not recover from. 

The Tigers have had a recent run of bad luck with the decommitment of five-star defensive end Korey Foreman — who decided he wanted to take more official visits — and losing out on quarterback Caleb Williams, who did not have the Tigers in his top three this week. 

But Shipley is not wavering at all in his commitment to the Tigers, in fact he is shutting down his recruitment.

"I can tell you right now that I will cut off all communication with other programs," Shipley said. "I will not be talking to any other coaches about recruitment or anything like that. I'm 150% all in. I'm happiest. I've been in a while."

Shipley will graduate in December and enroll at Clemson in January.

Publisher Zach Lentz contributed to this story