Former Clemson teammates Wilkins, Rencher reunite for annual ACE Awards
Former Clemson teammates Christian Wilkins and Darien Rencher were linked up for a good cause on Tuesday night.
The two shared the stage as keynote speakers for the annual ACE Awards at Founder’s Memorial Amphitorium on the campus of Bob Jones University in Greenville.
The ACE Awards— which stands for Advocates for Character and Education — was created out of a partnership with Coaches 4 Character and Greenville County Schools. It’s a recognition of “the unsung heroes” of Greenville County middle and high schools who exemplify four major traits: character, community service, academic effort and overcoming odds.
Wilkins, whose fifth-year option was recently picked up by the Miami Dolphins, and Rencher spoke to and honored 72 middle school and high school ACE Award winners, all of whom had a unique story and background. Some have overcome the death of family members, learning disabilities or homelessness, while others serve in their community and help to take care of their families.
“Just keep that motivation, keep striving to be great, give back,” Wilkins said to the group. “Continue to do great things in this world, because it’s so awesome that you guys are being recognized tonight.”
Wilkins, who flew in from Miami on Tuesday morning to make the event, mentioned community as a core element of him developing good character growing up and a foundation throughout his life.
“I feel like I’ve always been fortunate to have solid role models and mentors,” he said. “Whether that was a coach, siblings, grandparents, I’ve kind of always been lucky from that standpoint.”
The Dolphins’ defensive tackle also touched on his time at Clemson, becoming the program’s first player to graduate in 2 1/2 years in addition to being a four-time All-ACC Academic team member while also serving as a substitute teacher. He joked that “it was a party every day” in his class but noted he learned more from his students than he could’ve ever taught them.
“The spirit they brought, it was truly a humbling experience for me,” he said. “It was just so great to be able to give back to the community in that way.”
Wilkins and Rencher also fielded questions from the night’s honorees, one of which was about adversity. Rencher mentioned overcoming tearing both of his ACLs in high school, which caused him to lose scholarship offers. He then walked on at Clemson and eventually earned a scholarship before being named the Disney Spirit Award winner in 2020.
“The biggest thing I tried to embody was always trying to add value and value people,” Rencher said. “I feel like if you do that, no matter where you are in life, whether you’re at Woodmont High school or you’re working in whatever job you’re working in, you do those two things over time consistently, eventually people are gonna take notice and you’re gonna make your mark. So I think that’s what I was able to do during my time at Clemson.”
Wilkins concluded the night with one final message for the award winners.
“You guys are truly great because to me, greatness is simple,” he said. “If you’re consistent and you impact the lives of others, you serve others, you’re great, and that’s what you guys all have done. So, I’m truly honored and humbled to be here.”
This story was originally published May 11, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
