2022 WR Michael Mankaka Determined to Make Most of Opportunity at Clemson

Michael Mankaka has long dreamed to play football at Clemson.

In a journey that has taken him from Minnesota to South Carolina, Mankaka's dream is about to come to fruition. When asked by All Clemson if he could describe that journey in one word, the wide receiver out of nearby Laurens High had to give it some thought.

"The word would be satisfying," Mankaka said. "Not fulfillment because I'm obviously still not at that level where I want to be. It took a relief off of my shoulders because I had been working extremely hard, especially in Minnesota and trying to get noticed at different camps. When I went to Clemson obviously one of my dream schools, my very dream school, it was satisfying that my hard work paid off."

Before playing his final high school season at Laurens, Mankaka had spent all of his life growing up in Minnesota, beginning his high school career at Rochester Mayo High. No other player from that high school has gone on to play at Clemson.

Despite being so far away, the wide receiver prospect has long known where he wanted to play college football and prior to his senior year, he made the move to South Carolina, playing his final season at Laurens High.

Mankaka attended one of Dabo Swinney's high school camps last summer hoping to make an impression on the coaching staff and make an impression he did. Shortly thereafter, wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham offered him a PWO spot with the Tigers.

"They said that I performed well, obviously," Mankaka said. "Another thing they liked is my attention to detail, and how coachable I was. How I paid attention to detail and applied everything that they were saying."

Despite having interest from other schools like Wyoming, Iowa and Harvard, Mankaka knew where he wanted to play, and wasted no time in committing to the Tigers after getting the offer last summer. The culture that Swinney has created inside the program, as well as Clemson's track record of developing wide receivers, was just too much to pass up.

#ALLIN @Coach_Grisham @ClemsonFB pic.twitter.com/5z3f5Os75M
— Mike (@MankakaMichael) July 28, 2021

"The thing that drew me to them was just like, the atmosphere of the program. Obviously, they're a great school so that you know, stuck out to me as well. But the atmosphere of the program like I'd never visited here but watching them you could kind of tell how the program is built is different than a lot of programs. like it wasn't it was just Clemson. It was just Clemson you know. Because Alabama you know, is Alabama and you have your other schools as well, but Clemson just stood out to me."

"Wide Receiver U as well. They had great success putting guys in the league and all their wide receivers. Sammy Watkins, DeAndre Hopkins, Tee Higgins, and now Justyn Ross and some other guys in that mix. I'd have to say the success at my specific position, the atmosphere, the culture as well; they're just different."

While Mankaka has achieved his goal of making it to Clemson and admittedly calling it a satisfying feeling, he also insists his journey is far from over. His ultimate goal is to make the most out of this opportunity, and walk on or not, Mankaka is determined to do just that.

"To me, it means a great opportunity," Mankaka said. "I like hard work and I feel like hard work and determination. And obviously, a lot of help from God is what brought me up until this point. We're obviously not done, even after getting a scholarship. That definitely isn't the main goal. So it's a great opportunity for me. It also allows me to go in with the chip on my shoulder and work even harder. It's definitely a great opportunity. Because there's no excuse for me not to be great at Clemson, regardless of scholarship or preferred walk-on."

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