Slowly but surely, Matthews (N.C.) Weddington five-star running back and priority Clemson target Will Shipley is getting closer to rendering his college decision.

The original plan for Shipley was to make a final round of visits this spring, including a key return trip to Notre Dame, and then focus in on choosing a school. But with all in-person recruiting suspended through at least May 31, the nation’s top-ranked all-purpose back has been forced to do his due diligence on schools from home and says he is nearing a point where he may be comfortable enough to go ahead and get his commitment out of the way.

“I think the base part for me was really getting to know the players and getting to see that locker room atmosphere, which at a lot of these places, I’ve gotten connected to the players,” Shipley told The Clemson Insider. “I’ve reached out to them and gotten to create relationships that I would’ve created if I would have went on that visit. But now that that’s not possible, I’m just doing the next thing I can to kind of check that box, mark that off.

“So, I think the more and more I do that, it’s becoming more to a point where I think that I’ll have all the information I need to make my commitment. We’re still not there yet as a family. I still am definitely weighing out the decisions of waiting it out and being able to take those visits and check off all the boxes. But I would say that the commitment is definitely a better chance than it was a couple weeks ago.”

As he works toward a decision, Shipley has been communicating most often with a handful of teams including Clemson.

“I would say Notre Dame definitely is contacting me the most with all the players I talk to,” he said. “Coach (Tom) Rees, Coach (Lance) Taylor, I talk to them two or three times a week. Other than that, I would say NC State, UNC, Duke, Clemson, I would say all those schools are really hitting me up the most.”

Shipley was scheduled to chat with Clemson offensive coordinator/running backs coach Tony Elliott on Tuesday and has also recently been in touch with assistant coaches Robbie Caldwell and Tyler Grisham.

“Coach Caldwell texted me yesterday. Coach Grisham texted me last week, so I’ve been keeping in good contact with them, just wishing everyone a Happy Easter, hoping that them and their families are all doing well during these tough times,” Shipley said. “But I think the main thing that they’re kind of portraying is how well my family and I fit into Clemson — distance, how close it is to home, the best of both worlds, go there and win a national championship. I think they’re all really trying to portray those as much as they can.”

Both of Shipley’s parents graduated from NC State, but they aren’t pushing him toward the Wolfpack or any particular college.

“I think the main thing is just they want me to be happy,” he said. “They absolutely love every single school that I’m still speaking to, and they just want what’s best for me. They want me to be the happiest that I can, and they’re going to be happy wherever I choose.”

As a junior in 2019, Shipley rushed for more than 2,000 yards and ran for 30 touchdowns with an 11.0 yards-per-carry average. He also registered nearly 600 receiving yards and added eight more scores through the air while leading Weddington High to a 16-0 record and the Class 3AA state championship.

Shipley believes he would fit in well at Clemson, both on and off the field, should he decide to continue his academic and athletic career there.

“With everything I’ve seen so far and just being there a couple times, it’s such a great place, it really is,” he said. “How I would see myself in the offense, I’d love to do a lot what they’re doing now, but be able to be a little bit more versatile – be able to be put out in the slot and maybe do a couple things there, try to get a matchup with a linebacker, something like that. I’ve spoken to Coach Elliott about that. I would love to be put in kick return, punt return. I’d love to play special teams. That’s another thing we’ve spoken about.”

Shipley is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in North Carolina, No. 1 all-purpose back in the nation and No. 20 overall prospect in the 2021 class according to the 247Sports Composite.

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