There was a time when a slender forward nicknamed G3 was a basketball terror for opponents of Mint Hill Middle School.
“He was really good — dunking the ball in eighth grade,” his mother, Rocedar Sellars, said. “But football was his favorite sport.”
On Friday, Gordon Sellars III — or G3, as he’s known to family members and friends — picked up an orange ball cap from a collection of team hats on a table in front of him and announced that he’ll play his college football at Clemson.
Sellars, who has one more year remaining at Providence Day, made the announcement in the school gymnasium, before several hundred family members, friends and Chargers football teammates.
“It was just the right fit for me,” said Sellars, a 6-foot-3, 200-pound wide receiver who picked the Tigers ahead of Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, South Carolina, and N.C. A&T, his parents’ alma mater.
“For a lot of kids, a decision like this is transactional,” said Providence Day football coach Chad Grier, referring to the NIL money available to college players. “But for Gordon, it was all about finding the right fit — a place where he felt comfortable.”
Sellars has another year ahead of him at Providence Day, but he’s already totaled 74 receptions for 1,502 yards and 14 touchdowns. About two-thirds of those totals came last season, when the Chargers reached the N.C. Independent Schools Athletic Association’s championship game.
He is rated as a four-star recruit and is the third four-star wide receiver landed by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney in the Class of 2026.
Grier said he saw potential in Sellars when he arrived at Providence Day in ninth grade, after being a football and basketball standout at Mint Hill Middle and with the youth league Mint Hill Panthers as a youth.
“But the jump he took last year was really something,” Grier said. “He unlocked a whole new level.”
He is ranked by most scouting services among the top 50 wide receivers nationally.
“The latest change I’ve seen in him is his leadership ability,” Grier said. “It’s really coming to the surface. He’s growing into a man.”
Sellars’ mother said she and her husband, Gordon Jr., let their son find his way with a college commitment.
“We reminded Gordon that the choice was his,” said Rocedar Sellars, who earned a master’s degree from Clemson after getting her bachelors from N.C. A&T. “But we reminded him that he needed a school that not only nurtured him as a football player but also will help develop him as a man.”
Mackinley Sellars, a former basketball player at Independence High and now an N.C. A&T freshman, said she answered her brother’s questions about colleges but tried to stay out of the decision-making.
She said Clemson will be getting a caring young man who is supportive of friends and family, works hard, wants to succeed, and can be a bit annoying at times to his sister.
“Hey, it’s brother and sister,” Makinley Sellars said with a laugh. “But he’s really a great brother. He’s always checking in with me to see how I’m doing.”
Providence Day’s Sellars, who said Swinney was very happy when he contacted him with the news, added that he’s excited about playing in Clemson’s offense. But before that, he said, there’s unfinished business at Providence Day.
“There’s another season ahead, and we have big goals,” he said.