NC State was the first college to offer a scholarship to C.J. Clark when he was a sophomore in high school.
Clark went through an intense recruitment that centered around NC State, Georgia and North Carolina. Alabama, Penn State, South Carolina, Tennessee and Wake Forest had also offered.
NC State, besides offering first, also had another ace in the hole — Clark is cousins with former NCSU star defensive tackle B.J. Hill. Clark saw what the Wolfpack had done in developing Hill, who became a third-round NFL Draft pick of the Cincinnati Bengals, where he is a starter.
Hill played at Oakboro (N.C.) West Stanly High.
“He [Hill] has been a great inspiration,” Clark said. “Part of the reason that I came to NC State is watching him play here, and the high level those defensive guys played at. It’s been great having him on my side and to keep going.”
Another cousin is running back Antonio Williams of the New York Giants. Clark’s grandma lives across the street from Hill’s mom.
“We were always together a lot when we grew up,” Clark said.
It has taken some time and countless hours of rehabilitation, but the move is starting to pay off. Clark, now a redshirt sophomore in college, had a pair of sacks against Texas Tech last Saturday. He has four tackles, two sacks and one pass broken up in three games this season.
The sacks were the first of Clark’s college career.
“We are definitely emphasizing getting to the quarterback,” Clark said. “We have a lot of guys covering for us. We help them out by getting to the quarterback.”
Clark oozes potential, which was evident at New London (N.C.) North Stanly High. Rivals.com ranked him a four-star prospect, No. 186 overall in the country, No. 13 defensive tackle nationally and the No. 5 overall player in the state of North Carolina in the class of 2019. It looked like he was poised to showcase his abilities last year at nose tackle, but he suffered a season-ending knee injury during practice after playing three games.
“Now I cherish every moment with them,” said Clark on playing with his teammates. “It’s a big difference [at defensive end] because there is a lot of space out there. It’s a better chance to get to the quarterback.”
The sculpted 6-foot-3, 304-pounder is now playing more at defensive end this season and coach Dave Doeren has been impressed thus far.
Doeren said Thursday that Clark reminded him more of another former Wolfpack defensive line standout — Justin Jones, who is now with the Chicago Bears.
“He is really a guy who gets off the football like Justin did, really quick,” Doeren said. “It’s good to see him get back and on the statistical categories of sacking the quarterback. I know he was really excited after both those plays, and we need that in our front. He’s a really good player.”
NC State defensive coordinator and linebackers coach Tony Gibson was able to have a full season with Clark in 2020, where he had 24 tackles in 434 plays. He likes the energy that Clark brings to the defensive end rotation with Savion Jackson, Davin Vann and Travoli Price.
“He’s an impact player for us,” Gibson said. “He has played a lot of football, keeps getting better, healthy and plays hard.”
Clark figures he got cleared to play last July, so it wasn’t an easy path last winter and spring. It helped workout out with the other injured NC State players such as Isaiah Moore and Tyler Baker-Williams that were rehabbing.
“I was doing most of the workouts and the lateral movement,” Clark said. “It felt good. It’s a process when you are coming off an injury like that.”
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