Clement follows dream, family feel to West Virginia
Martinsburg (W.Va.) 2024 athlete Murphy Clement always wanted to play for West Virginia.
And after seeing the pathway his brother Hudson took from being a preferred walk-on to earning a scholarship, Clement decided to bet on himself and attempt to travel the same road.
“It opened the door for me tremendously and showed me that if you work hard enough it doesn’t matter what path you take. If you put the work in you’ll succeed,” he said.
The 2024 Gatorade Player of the Year in the state, Clement made the decision to accept a preferred walk-on opportunity after weighing his two finalists West Virginia and Shepherd. Clement visited Morgantown Jan. 20 and that trip served as the final push over the finish line for the versatile athlete.
A big reason for that was the family feeling that he got when he was on campus, and it didn’t hurt that his brother is already there and could provide additional support. And while he didn’t have anything bad to say about the way that Shepherd handled the process, the draw of Morgantown was too strong.
“After I visited WVU I knew it was home,” he said.
When Clement gave the coaching staff the news that he had picked the Mountaineers they naturally were excited and that meant a lot to the in-state product.
“They created a bond that made this process very fun and gave me the opportunity to stay home and play for my home state. It means a lot being able to stay in West Virginia and play for WVU,” he said.
Clement is slotted to begin his career as an athlete but could end up at several different positions including running back or even possibly on the defensive side of the ball. The coaching staff has been impressed with his overall skill set and his production at Martinsburg certainly backs that up.
During his senior season, Clement helped to lead the Bulldogs to another state championship and passed for 1,673 yards and 19 touchdowns while rushing for another 1,128 yards and 20 more scores. And with that ability to move around it could lead to making an impact in all three phases.
“They like my versatility, vision, speed and ability to break tackles,” he said.
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