Brent Venables stopped by the school of a four-star prospect in the Sunshine State.
Little did he know, but Tampa (Fla.) Catholic 2023 linebacker Lewis Carter would leave school Thursday with a Clemson offer in hand.
“When Venables left, my coach called me back and told me he had good news for me,” Carter told The Clemson Insider. “I was real proud about it.”
His reaction?
“I was blown away,” Carter said. “I walked away once he told me. I was real, real excited.”
While Carter’s reaction might indicate otherwise, he felt the offer was coming. He had been speaking with Clemson’s defensive coordinator/linebackers coach for a while now.
“It means a lot because this is something I’ve been working for since I got to high school,” he said, “but overall, I’m just happy for it. I feel like it’s a huge accomplishment. I’m just gonna keep working and use this as motivation.”
According to Carter, Venables likes how aggressive he is when he tackles, how he runs to the ball and how he plays running back on the other side of the ball.
“He likes my film,” Carter said of Venables. “He said I was doing well earlier in the season. He said he loved [my film] and he just wanted to get to know me a little more and create a relationship with me.”
Though, Clemson is recruiting him to be a linebacker.
“I like the scheme and the stuff they run on defense,” he said.
Carter is a player, who’s going to do whatever’s best for his team. He’s an athletic, do-everything linebacker, who’s willing to play wherever his team needs him.
According to MaxPreps, Carter posted 66 total tackles, two sacks, an interception and a forced fumble in 10 games as a junior this season to go with 394 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns on 46 carries.
Schools such as Auburn, Georgia, Miami, NC State, Ohio State, Penn State, Pittsburgh and Texas A&M have also extended offers to Carter, who lists more than two dozen total offers.
Carter (6-0, 205) is ranked as high as the No. 107 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports, which considers him the No. 7 linebacker in the country for his class.
He plans on making it up to Clemson for his first unofficial visit to Tiger Town on Jan. 29, 2022.
Now that he has that coveted offer, where would Carter say Clemson currently stands for him?
“I feel like they stand really high,” he said. “Once I go up there and see because Coach Venables, I’ve been talking to him and Coach [Tony] Elliott, they seem like great people. But, once I get up there, I’ll for sure really know and figure out where they stand in my recruitment.”
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