Will Shipley recalls 'pressure' from NC State-loving family, what he expects Saturday

Week 5’s matchup between No. 5 Clemson and No. 10 NC State will be featured on ESPN’s College Gameday and will be one of the biggest games of the weekend. But it will also be a big game for Clemson running back Will Shipley, who has quite a few NC State alumni in his family. Shipley was asked if there was any weird or odd tension with his Wolfpack family members with him being a Tiger.

“I think it did, especially early on in the recruiting process, there’s a lot of pressure to kind of be funneled to NC State. My parents always did a great job of making sure they were never throwing in their bias, both of them are graduates, 26 graduates on just my mom’s side from NC State,” Shipley said. “We’ve definitely got Wolfpack in our blood, but it’s a little awkward early on but I think they’ve kind of learned and adapted that I’m all in, I’m a Clemson Tiger.”

Shipley chose to cross the border out of high school, at the 4-star running back from Matthews, North Carolina chose Clemson over NC State and many other schools. Shipley’s family, especially his mother’s side, was likely not very happy with him going to a cross-state conference opponent, and some will even be cheering against Shipley’s squad this weekend.

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“I think there’ll be a culmination, but there’ll definitely be a good amount of rooting for the Wolfpack, that’s one thing I’ve come to realize. I think they’re all cheering for me, no question, but when you’re talking about my mom’s side of the family they’re die hard Wolfpack fans,” Shipley explained. “I’m not too involved in it, don’t wanna be too involved in it, but I’m sure a bunch of them will be supporting red on Saturday.”

There may be some members of the Shipley fan that’ll be rooting for the Wolfpack on Saturday, but he’s also done his part in converting some of them to Clemson fans.

“Yes there’s definitely a few, and to be able to flip them to full on Tiger fans is a great feeling, I kind of feel like the recruiter myself. It’s good and I’ve still got all the love for them in the world, that’s just who they grew up cheering for,” Shipley said.

Despite having varied loyalty within his family regarding who they’ll be cheering for, Shipley is still looking forward to playing in front of as many of his family members as possible this weekend.

“Trying to get as many people as here as possible, you guys know it’s a tough game to get tickets to, but trying to get as many people here as possible,” Shipley said.