Mafah played all four of his collegiate seasons at Clemson and closed out his time as a Tiger with a career year this past season. But Mafah admits there came a point when he thought about transferring away from Clemson.

The punishing running back said on the Bab’s Basement podcast that he drew interest from a bunch of SEC schools and considered transferring after his sophomore season in 2022, before ultimately choosing to stick it out with the Tigers.

“Actually, after my sophomore year, I was thinking about transferring,” Mafah said. “And I know Auburn had a lot of interest, UGA, Tennessee, really all the SEC schools.”

According to Mafah, he thought about transferring because of his playing time or lack thereof, and he wasn’t happy after Clemson suffered a 31-14 loss to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl at the end of the 2022 season.

“Just because I felt like I could have played more, especially after my sophomore year, and I was just mad, honestly,” Mafah said of why he contemplated transferring. “We lost to Tennessee in the Orange Bowl, and I was just like, man, I’m trying to win. But a lot of thought came into it, and I decided to stay.”

Mafah had 98 carries for 515 yards and four touchdowns as a sophomore in 2022 while serving as the backup running back to Will Shipley, who rushed 210 times for 1,182 yards and 15 touchdowns that season.

Mafah recalled how he wanted a bigger workload, but said the arrival of offensive coordinator Garrett Riley from TCU after the 2022 season played a part in his decision to stay at Clemson – as did Clemson as a school itself, the family aspect and what Dabo Swinney’s program had to offer compared to others.

“It was really like, I felt like not even me being a solo back – I felt like I wasn’t getting enough carries,” Mafah said. “Like, I feel like we can have a two-back system where both the backs eat, but I felt like it wasn’t that.

“So we actually got a new offensive coordinator. That went into it. Another thing that went into was just Clemson as a school. In Clemson, we had this thing called P.A.W. Journey, and it was just focusing on developing us as men and in the business world and connections. And I felt like that’s something I can’t get anywhere else. I feel like it’s actually family there. My cousin goes to UGA, and he told me they don’t got a banquet there. At Clemson, we do all that stuff. Coach really cares about that and the people there really care about you. So I feel like that was something you can’t replicate somewhere else.”

Following his sophomore season, Mafah went on to rush for 2,080 yards and 21 touchdowns on 395 carries across his final two seasons.

Mafah earned third-team All-ACC honors as a graduate senior in 2024, when he rushed 216 times for 1,115 yards with eight touchdowns over 14 games (all starts).

The 6-foot-1, 230-pounder was hampered all year by a shoulder injury but still recorded the 24th 1,000-yard rushing season in Clemson history, and his 1,115 yards ranked 14th in a season in school history. He was voted by his teammates as a permanent team captain and was one of 12 players to start every game for the Tigers this past season.