Clemson football player steps away from team, plans to transfer
A Clemson defensive back has left the team and plans to transfer.
Junior defensive back Shelton Lewis has left the team and plans to take a redshirt year and enter the transfer portal when it opens, a team spokesman confirmed to The State. TigerIllustrated.com was the first to report the news on Lewis.
Since Lewis has only played in four games, he can use 2025 as a redshirt year and maintain two additional years of eligibility. Stepping away from your team after four games has become a common practice for players who aren’t getting much playing time and don’t want to burn a year of eligibility.
Lewis (5-11, 185) played 49 defensive snaps in the first four games of the season for Clemson (1-3, 0-2 ACC). He’s coming off a season-high 33 snaps against Syracuse, but he only has seven tackles this season. Lewis was listed as the team’s backup Tiger (nickelback) on this week’s depth chart.
That’s a drop in playing time from his true freshman year, when the former three-star DB appeared in every game and had two interceptions or his sophomore season, when Lewis had a career-best four starts amid injuries.
He is the team’s first transfer for the 2025 season and the first player to leave Clemson midseason with intent to redshirt and transfer since 2022. That season, LB Sergio Allen and WR Dacari Collins both left the program.
Lewis ends his Clemson career having appeared in 27 games (six starts). He will have two remaining years of eligibilty at his next school starting in 2026.
Clemson is coming off a bye week and plays at UNC (2-2) on Saturday in Chapel Hill, NC (noon, ESPN). The Tigers are a 14-point betting favorite.
This story was originally published October 2, 2025 at 7:49 PM.
