Update on Antonio Williams’ future with Clemson football team
One of the Clemson football team’s key offensive playmakers is sticking around amid social media buzz that he was considering the transfer portal.
Wide receiver Antonio Williams is staying with the program and actively preparing for the Tigers’ bowl game, a source familiar with his plans told The State.
Williams led Clemson in catches and receiving yards as a true freshman last year and made numerous freshman All-American teams, but he only played in four of 12 games this season amid ankle and toe injuries.
Williams caught 17 passes for 192 yards and two touchdowns this season and missed eight of Clemson’s last nine games, including the season finale at South Carolina. Coach Dabo Swinney previously said Williams could play in Clemson’s bowl game after he suffered a toe injury in October against Miami.
Williams was never directly reported to be entering the portal, but his name popped up frequently as a potential transfer for the Tigers, who are starting to feel the full effects of the portal this cycle. Among Clemson’s eight transfers so far, two (WR Beaux Collins and S Andrew Mukuba) were veteran, full-time starters this season and another (DE David Ojiegebe) was a promising freshman talent.
Williams, the source said, isn’t going that route and is preparing for Clemson’s Dec. 29 Gator Bowl meeting with Kentucky in Jacksonville, Florida. If Williams is healthy, he can play in that game while maintaining a redshirt year under new NCAA guidance (Williams only played in four games this season, the max for a redshirt).
Williams projects as one of the top returning wide receivers for Clemson and quarterback Cade Klubnik in 2024 as a redshirt sophomore. Sophomore Tyler Brown (519 yards), redshirt junior Troy Stellato (279 yards) and junior Adam Randall (204 yards) will also be in the mix. The Tigers are also set to sign five-star 2024 WR recruit Bryant Wesco and four-star 2024 WR recruit TJ Moore on national signing day.
Williams was a standout receiver at Irmo’s Dutch Fork High School outside Columbia before signing with Clemson as a four-star recruit late in the 2022 recruiting cycle. Earlier in his process, he’d widely been considered a South Carolina lean.
2023 Gator Bowl
Who: No. 22 Clemson (8-4) vs. Kentucky (7-5)
When: Friday, Dec. 29, at noon
Where: EverBank Stadium in Jacksonville, Fla.
TV: ESPN
Betting line: Clemson by 7 points
This story was originally published December 7, 2023 at 11:18 AM with the headline "Update on Antonio Williams’ future with Clemson football team."
