The most memorable Clemson Football recruiting announcements

KJ Henry commits to Clemson Football with class

KJ Henry was a 5-star prospect from West Forsythe High School, just outside of Winston-Salem. In December 2017, he prepared to make his announcement at his high school to choose between Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, Penn State, Virginia Tech, and South Carolina.

When he stood up to make his announcement, he took his ceremony in a unique direction. He invited one of his assistant coaches, Patrick Murphy, to the stage to make his announcement with him.

Murphy, who was diagnosed with a mental disability at birth, was a 26-year veteran of the West Forsythe program. Henry explained what Murphy meant to him:

"“He means everything. You have those type of days — we all have them — where we come out here, it’s early, you don’t want to practice, but when you got a guy like that to put a smile on your face, he’s always energetic and excited. You can’t do nothing but smile, be excited to play the game of football one more day. So just for me personally, I’m glad I got to meet him, and having him around is such a blessing.”"

As Murphy stood with Henry on the stage, KJ whispered his school choice in his coach’s ear. Murphy proudly announced ‘Clemson University’. Henry then removed his jacket to reveal his orange Tigers t-shirt and put the Clemson hat from the table on Coach Murphy’s head.