Well let's look at the exact quotes:
Those are not two contradicting quotes no matter how you slice it. Junior year in high school could mean August of his junior year entering the season. Going into college could mean August of his freshman season at USC. That could be up to a 2 year time frame by my math.
Look at the whole quote from his father:
"He was 160 pounds as a junior in high school," "His senior year, he just got taller and bigger. But you're recruited your junior year. I was thinking he wasn't going to be able to play football, and I was fine with that."
That means he was around 160 pounds during his junior season of football, otherwise his father would not have spoke about when he was recruited (in his junior year) or the fact that he got bigger and taller his senior year. He said he was thinking that he "wasn't going to be able to play football" because of size. That means he was around 160 pounds when he was recruited. I don't see why else his father would say "I was thinking he wasn't going to be able to play football" immediately after talking about recruiting. If he had gained significant weight over the course of that football season, his father wouldn't be talking about how he was thinking that Clay wasn't going to be able to play football. Scouts would see the weight gain and his father would understand that.
Plus from a common sense standpoint, it is very difficult to add significant weight during the course of a football season. Most often, you lose weight during the season due to the amount of energy you expend.
His father is not talking about his sophomore year. He is basically stating that when he was recruited (junior year) he was much smaller than his senior year.
Clay says:
My weight going into college was around 220 pounds, but somehow it gets exaggerated to make a better sotry. I was a late-bloomer physically, and then with getting into the weight room so much during college, I got to where I am today.
Going into college to me means before you've gotten there and starting any programs. Wither it be academics or athletics. I don't think he would say "going in" if he was talking about after he had already starting working out with the S&C program at USC, especially when the question is about his weight going into college. He simply would be answering the question improperly.
So, from his junior year of HS up through the summer after HS he gained around 60 pounds, according to quotes from him and his father.
60 pounds in a year and a half or even 2 years is ALOT of weight. Especially muscle.
Seems real suspicious to me.
It may be an estimated time frame and not an exact time frame, but even when looking at it from the maximum time frame it is suspicious. 60 pounds in a maximum of two years, I don't know.
And if you think about it, it is only two years if his father was talking about the beginning of his junior year, which I doubt considering the fact that his father spoke about him being recruited in his junior year, and how he was thinking that Clay may not play football. You are recruited as you play out your junior year. They don't recruit juniors before they start playing their junior year unless they are awesome.
Seems decisive enough to come up with an estimate, and when you run the numbers, it is suspicious IMO.
It could be that Clay is exaggerating his weight coming out of HS. But I don't understand why he would. There is no reason to lie about what your weight was in the past unless you feel you have something to hide that relates to it.
Gaining 20 pounds over 5 seasons of football at USC is normal. Shoot, actually, it's really not alot of weight at all in that amount of time for a football player.
However gaining 60 pounds in 2 years or less in HS is not normal IMO.
Seems a bit odd that he gained 60 pounds under a high school S&C program, yet gained only 20 under one as elite as USC.
