University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Newcomers Trace Clopton, Nick Dawson adjusting to Southern Miss grind
8/4/2018 11:52:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -- One came in the spring, the other in July. But both Trace Clopton and Nick Dawson have the same mission: to make themselves and their Southern Miss teammates better each and every day of fall camp.
"I think that leaving early and coming in the spring was the best decision I could have made," Clopton, a freshman center out of Brookhaven, Miss., said. "My family helped me with it. We knew the center was graduating and that I would have a shot, as opposed to if I came now or in the summer and didn't have those connections."
Head coach Jay Hopson is entering his third season with the program and is seeing the fruits of he and his staff's labor with their recruiting classes coming along.
"With the newcomers, you have to keep watching and see their development," he said. "Of course, Trace is a guy that is making a statement early as is a newcomer and is already starting."
Dawson echoed a similar sentiment of Clopton's regarding the adjustments to summer workouts, including the 110-yard runs on the turf in the heat of the day and lifting at 6 a.m.
"Summer workouts were really good, attacking every day and seeing what the mindset would need to be like," Dawson said. "It's about getting a step up on the competition and making myself as good as I can be for the rest of the season."
Dawson hails from Georgia but played junior college ball at Northeast Oklahoma A&M. While he has experienced college life before, a new state and new level of competition is just another step for him in learning the ropes.
"Ky'el (Hemby) is who I talk to the most, and while we didn't come in at the same time, he came in June and I was in July, that's my roommate too," he said. "I've made sure I've been around LaDarius (Harris) too to see how things were on the defensive line. It's been smooth. It took me a minute to get acclimated. I talked to and got around more people the second and third week of July."
Two days of fall camp are in the books for Southern Miss, with many more to come.
The Golden Eagles open the 2018 season Saturday, Sept. 1, at home against Jackson State in a 6 p.m., contest. Both season (for as low as $110) and single-game tickets are available for any of the six home games this season. Fans can go online at SouthernMissTickets.com to purchase seats, as well as call the Pat Ferlise Ticket Office at 1-800-844-TICK (8425) or visiting in person weekdays during normal business hours.
