Stanford offers super sophomore running back Will Shipley
Stanford coaches Tavita Pritchard and Ron Gould surprised 2021 North Carolina running back Will Shipley with an offer during a phone call Thursday. He was the sixth sophomore to be offered by the Cardinal.
"My reaction was honestly you’ve got to be kidding me," he messaged Cardinal Sports Report. "I was amazed and also felt very grateful that they are giving me an opportunity at a young age. It was my first time talking directly to Coach Gould and Coach Pritchard. I know that it is one of the most prestigious and beautiful schools out there with great academics and also a great football program."
The Cardinal coaches told Shipley that what he does on the field compares favorably to a recent Stanford great, and one that Shipley is a fan of and watches on Sundays.
"They said that I could be the next Christian McCaffrey in a sense that I’m a versatile back that can be spread out. They loved my academics as well."
Will's brother, James, will attend the University of Pennsylvania and play lacrosse. Education is important in the Shipley household and Will has a 4.35 GPA.
Shipley is a Carolina Panthers fan and calls McCaffrey his favorite player in the league. There is an obvious, surface-level reason to compare the two running backs, but when you watch Shipley gracefully run on the field, dodging would be tacklers with seemingly effortless ease, while also able to power through tackles and catch the ball, the comparison is more understandable.
Like McCaffrey he stuffs the stat sheet like a hungry teenager at a buffet. He had 206 carries for 1,417 yards and 19 touchdowns and caught 28 passes for 393 yards and six touchdowns. He also recorded 49 tackles on defense, which makes his accomplishments on offense shine greater because he rarely misses a play.
Shipley has deep family ties to North Carolina State. Both his parents attended the home-state school and so did reportedly 26 of his relatives. It's a remarkable number that speaks to how long the Shipley family has been connected to the area.
Stanford has some practice convincing top talent to make the difficult decision to travel a couple thousand miles from their North Carolina home to The Farm.
Stanford's most recent Heisman runner-up running back, Bryce Love, hailed from Wake Forest. Redshirt freshman running back Justus Woods played at Charlotte Christian. And current Houston Texan Peter Kalambayi attended Butler High in Matthews, the same town as Shipley's Weddington High.
He told Cardinal Sports Report: "I am really looking forward to a visit to Stanford."
In the meantime Shipley is coming to grips with the idea of possibly attending a school across the country: "Of course it will be tough. I am very close with all of my family members and being that far away would definitely take some getting used to, but at the end of the day I am going to make the best decision for myself regardless of distance."