This past weekend, Clemson played host to a five-star prospect ranked as the country’s No. 1 offensive tackle in the 2024 class.
Centennial High School (Roswell, Ga.)’s Daniel Calhoun made his first-ever trip to Tiger Town last Saturday.
The Clemson Insider caught up with the 6-foot-6, 330-pound rising junior following the visit.
“I like it. It was really fun,” Calhoun said of Clemson and his time on campus. “They have great food, great coaches. I really like Clemson.”
Calhoun is the top-ranked offensive tackle in the 2024 class, according to both Rivals and the 247Sports Composite. Rivals ranks him as the sixth-best prospect in his class regardless of position, while he checks in as the nation’s No. 30 overall prospect in the composite rankings.
Asked what stood out most to him from Saturday’s visit, Calhoun cited the Tigers’ football facility – the Allen N. Reeves Football Complex – as well as simply getting to experience what Clemson is like for the first time.
“It’s a nice facility,” he said. “I haven’t been at Clemson at all, either, so it was really fun.”
Calhoun’s mother, father and uncle accompanied him on the visit.
“They really liked it,” he said. “They like the facility and the coaches.”
The visit afforded Calhoun the opportunity to spend time with new Clemson offensive line coach Thomas Austin (pictured above). The two had spoken over the phone a little bit but never met in person prior to Saturday.
“He’s a really great coach and person, really,” Calhoun said of Austin. “He really teaches you the techniques of being an offensive lineman and stuff like that.”
Calhoun also had the chance to interact briefly with Dabo Swinney.
“He’s a really great coach, a really fun person to talk to,” Calhoun said.
What did he hear from Clemson’s head coach overall?
“Coach Swinney was really passionate about keeping them grades right,” Calhoun said. “Because he said he’s going to check the progress reports after this year. So, he just said be on top of your grades and stuff like that.”
The only other visit Calhoun has made thus far this offseason was a trip to Alabama in January. Up next for him is a visit to Georgia on Thursday.
Calhoun expects to make it back to Clemson sometime in the summer, if not before then. He said he might return to campus as soon as next month for the Tigers’ April 9 spring game.
Calhoun’s list of more than two dozen offers features schools such as Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Florida, Florida State, Ohio State, Michigan and Oklahoma, to name some.
Clemson typically doesn’t start offering prospects until the summer before their junior year, but Calhoun hopes he is one of the 2024 recruits to eventually earn an offer from the Tigers.
“It would mean a lot,” he said. “I really like Clemson. I really like the facility, the people around Clemson. I really like it.”
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