Clemson lined up with all of Vandegrift High School’s (Austin, TX.) four-star offensive lineman Ian Reed’s values and checked all his boxes during his first-ever visit to campus.
Reed — a 6-foot-6, 305-pound junior — earned an offer from Clemson this past weekend, which he announced via Twitter just prior to kickoff at the Orange & White Spring Game at Memorial Stadium.
“The trip was amazing and everything I’d imagined it would be,” Reed told The Clemson Insider Sunday night. “Clemson is a special place and the visit was great.”
Before Saturday’s spring game, he sat down with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney and offensive line coach Thomas Austin.
“I love Coach Swinney,” Reed said. “He’s a great guy, a great influencer and he has high regard for his faith and so does Coach Austin. They just love what they do and it was awesome that I got to talk with them for 30 minutes.”
According to Reed, Clemson’s coaches told him that they look like what they see in him as a person, his high regard for academics and just the upside he has as a football player. Clemson is also a fan of his unique skillset.
Reed wasn’t entirely sure that Clemson would offer him during his campus visit. In fact, he viewed it as a 50/50 chance of happening this past weekend. With that being said, what does it mean for Reed to ultimately earn an offer from the Tigers?
“Getting an offer from Clemson is just a dream of mine,” he said. “After watching them when I was growing up a bit, getting an offer from Clemson is just amazing. I was super happy. I was trying to hold in tears. It was just incredible.”
Now with an offer in hand, Reed indicated that Clemson is definitely up there in his recruitment and that the Tigers are probably a top-three school for him, coming off this past weekend’s visit.
Even though it was his first time in Tiger Town, Reed felt like a priority the minute he set foot on campus.
“It was awesome,” he said. “Just me being valued by a highly-prestigious program like Clemson is just amazing and the opportunity to come to play for them has just been an awesome dream.”
Reed told us that he plans on taking on making his way back to Clemson for an official visit either in early June or late July. He also indicated that Austin plans on stopping by Vandegrift High School sometime this spring for one of Reed’s spring practices.
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