Pitt is it: Clayton confident with college choice
Madison Clayton decided Pitt was where she wanted to spend the next four years after she graduates from Jefferson-Morgan in 2018.
After three seasons with Waynesburg, Madison Clayton, center, has tallied 84 goals for the Raiders.
Just a short trip across the Mason-Dixon line was all the further Madison Clayton had to travel to see a perennial soccer powerhouse. West Virginia University ended the 2016 season as the national runner-up. The Mountaineers won the Big 12 Conference title and also were the top-ranked team in the nation for seven consecutive weeks during the season.
When Clayton, a senior student at Jefferson-Morgan High School and soccer player for Waynesburg High School, went to visit WVU during her recruitment, her mind might have already been made up.
However, despite falling short of a national title in a 3-1 loss to USC in the College Cup Final, the Mountaineers’s success wasn’t enough to convince Clayton that WVU was for her.
It was rather a team that those associated with West Virginia love to hate.
“I was on my visit to Pitt with my parents and sat down with the head coach,” she remembers of her March 4th venture to see what the Panthers’ program had to offer. “He (Greg Miller) told me if I wanted to be a part of it to write my name up on the board. I got up and did exactly that.”
Clayton, who was also deciding between West Virginia, Coastal Carolina and Slippery Rock, said ultimately choosing Pitt came down to several factors.
“Pitt has great academics for the major that I want to pursue,” she said about following a potential career in sports medicine. “It was also important to me that they play in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). It’s one of the best conferences in the nation for soccer. I want to compete against the best in the entire country.”
It also didn’t hurt to already be acquainted to the coaching staff.
Anthony James, an assistant coach on the women’s team at Pitt, and Greg Mitchell, a volunteer coach for the Panthers, are part of Clayton’s club team, Soccer Vision Academy, based out of Ohio.
While Clayton has played forward for the Raiders, she has already began the transition of moving to an outside back. That is her expected landing spot at Pitt.
“It will be a great fit for her,” said Waynesburg head coach Joe Kijowski. “The way colleges are playing now, they are a lot more aggressive. The transition from forward to outside back isn’t unheard of anymore. It will be a good move.”
The move isn’t because of Clayton’s shyness when in her forward position – scoring 84 goals in her first three years at the varsity level – but a continued maturation to improve on other areas of her game.
“It’s been a transformation,” said Kijowski, who has coached Clayton for several years. “She has progressively gotten better. Madison was primarily a scorer but the way she has continually developed has made her into a great soccer player.”
Clayton wasn’t the only one that couldn’t contain her happiness, as her father, Jason, watched in the background as she approached the board to write her name.
“He was teary eyed,” Clayton said. “My family wanted me to go where I would be the happiest. I fell in love with Pitt. It’s where I want to be. I’ve always dreamed about playing at the next level. Seeing all the hard work you put in, not only during the season but year around, it’s really amazing those dreams are coming true. All of that hard work has paid off.”