It was obvious four-star Will Shipley was a special athlete early in his high school career and it didn’t take very long for college offers to start piling up. The Matthews (N.C.) Weddington star’s first two offers came from SEC programs South Carolina and Vanderbilt and his third was from N.C. State, where his parents went to school.
Shipley never officially named a short list but his top contenders were easy to identify. Clemson, Notre Dame, N.C. State, North Carolina, Stanford, and Duke were the programs Shipley spoke about most often but he took visits to many more schools.
Before the general public caught onto the fact that Shipley is poised to be a difference-maker at collegiate level, he mentioned he was “waiting on” a Clemson offer. The Tigers jumped up to the lead position in Shipley’s recruitment in the weeks after extending that offer. The COVID-19 pandemic and recruiting dead period forced Shipley to cancel planned spring visits to Clemson, Notre Dame, Stanford, and North Carolina, limiting the efforts of other programs to to try to catch Clemson in the race for his commitment.
Shipley had always wanted to commit near the end of April but tried to wait it out. In the end, Clemson’s draw was too strong and Dabo Swinney and his staff held off Notre Dame.
