Graceson Littleton’s journey to committing to Clemson football began in Wichita

After his first YMCA T-ball game in Wichita, it became apparent Graceson Littleton was blessed with speed.

He was solely interested in picking up a bat because hitting the ball was the only way he was allowed to do what he really desired — run the bases. So he would poke at the ball, rarely sending it past the pitcher and never out of the infield, but it wouldn’t matter because he was so fast for his age.

“Every hit was a home run,” said Heather Bouler, his mother. “We would just laugh because it didn’t matter how far the ball went, he was going to run around the bases no matter what.”

Then came field days at Amelia Earhart Elementary in Goddard, where Littleton would dust his classmates in the sprints. On the playground, no one could catch him playing tag.

He was called “The Flash” when he started playing junior football for the Wichita Gators and helped the team win a city championship in the fourth grade. He was so fast that he doesn’t recall juking much in those days, just running past defenders into the end zone.

Littleton has since moved away from Wichita, where he lived for 15 years, but the speed he developed in his hometown has helped make him one of the nation’s best cornerbacks in the class of 2025. On Wednesday, the four-star recruit, who now resides in Tampa, Florida, gave a verbal commitment to Clemson.

“Wichita is definitely where my heart is,” Littleton told The Eagle. “I still have my 316 (area code) number and all of my family still lives there. I still have those connections and it’s cool to see the love and support, knowing that me moving across the country didn’t affect those relationships and everyone back home is still bought into my journey.

“I hope once I get to college, I can set up some camps back home and try to give back because that’s where it all started for me.”

Littleton, who attended the Goddard school district, was known for his speed playing running back and receiver in Wichita, but the move to Tampa, following his mother, correlated with his transition to playing cornerback on defense.

It took some getting used to, but Littleton quickly became enamored with preventing touchdowns instead of scoring them.

“When you’re on offense, you’re always relying on somebody else,” Littleton said. “Whether it’s a quarterback to get you the ball or for the offensive line to block for you. But at cornerback, it’s just me out there and I can’t mess it up. If I don’t do my job, there’s no one else to blame. I love that feeling of being one-on-one and just needing to do my job.”

It didn’t take long for him to pick up steam as a Division I talent at Wiregrass Ranch High, but it wasn’t until this past January when Littleton’s recruitment erupted.

That’s when the film of his strong junior season began circulating among college coaches — and when Littleton performed well at an Under Armour camp. He clocked in at 4.51 seconds in the 40-yard dash and excelled in the press-man drills, which talent evaluators saw as evidence to bump him up to a four-star prospect, with 247Sports declaring him the No. 71 player overall in the class of 2025.

Before long, the former Wichita Gators speedster had 42 scholarship offers to choose from. The list included prestigious programs such as Alabama, Georgia, USC, Oklahoma, Florida and Auburn with Kansas State and Kansas pulling at his heartstrings in a possible return home.

He scheduled official visits to Penn State, Clemson, Alabama, OU and Iowa, but decided to commit to Clemson and head coach Dabo Swinney following his visit this past weekend.

“I told my parents on the last night we were (at Clemson), ‘This is the school I want to be at,’” Littleton said. “They pride themselves in having a really good culture. It’s a family- and faith-based culture, which I think is a really good fit for me. And it’s a developmental program. They don’t really use the transfer portal. They rely on guys they have and believe in their guys and building with what they’ve got.”

Wednesday was a monumental day for Littleton and his family, one they won’t forget.

The move to Florida certainly helped propel his recruitment, but the family also certainly won’t forget where their story began.

“Of course we’re so proud of him and he’s worked so hard for this,” said Bouler, his mother. “He has so many good memories in Wichita from playing in the City League and for Goddard. I had a lot of people messaging me today, ‘Way to go, Flash! I’m a Clemson fan now.’ I just started laughing because that was his nickname when he was there. It feels really good to know he’s still got that love and support from Wichita.”