There continues to be considerable mutual interest between Clemson and the nation’s top-ranked athlete in the 2024 class.
Buford (Ga.) High School five-star Khalil “KJ” Bolden recently spoke with The Clemson Insider regarding the latest in his recruitment, where things stand with the Tigers and more.
“Everything’s been going straight,” he said of the recruiting process. “I’m picking up offers constantly, daily. Me and my family have been talking. We plan on narrowing things down junior year to like 12 or something like that, and then just keep going on from there.”
Clemson would be a big contender for Bolden, who has collected 30-plus offers, if the Tigers extend an offer to him once they start offering more prospects in the 2024 class this summer.
“Clemson’s always been one of my favorite schools since I was little,” he said. “But Clemson does things different when it comes to offering and things like that. But definitely if I get the offer, they’ll definitely be one of my top schools I’ll have to go see and check out and things like that.”
Bolden has been communicating with Clemson co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Mickey Conn, as well as wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham.
“I hear from Coach Conn and Coach Grisham every once in a while. Those are my guys,” he said.
“They both say the same thing – like, we want you, we think you can play for this university and we’re not going to force you… like, it doesn’t matter what side you choose, either safety or receiver, and things of that nature.”
According to Bolden, Clemson is leaving it up to him as far as whether he would play safety or receiver should he choose to suit up for the Tigers in college.
The 6-foot-1, 182-pound rising junior expects to be doing plenty of pass-catching for Buford this season and then will go from there as he determines which position he’d prefer to play at the next level.
“This year, I’m going to be playing a lot of receiver because we had an Alabama commit (Isaiah Bond),” Bolden said. “He was playing mostly receiver, but this year I’ve got to step up and take over that spot. So, after this year, I plan on seeing what I want to do and how I want to go from there.”
Bolden is a five-star prospect according to the 247Sports Composite, while 247Sports ranks him as the nation’s No. 1 athlete and No. 3 overall prospect in the country for the 2024 class regardless of position.
“I’m a true definition of an athlete,” he said, describing himself as a player, “because I can hurt you both with speed or strength. I’m a ballhawk. It doesn’t matter, offense or defense, wherever the ball is, I’m trying to get it. I just try to play fast and just be a leader for the team and things like that. I’m really big on leadership.”
Bolden estimates he’s been to Clemson two or three times and explained what stood out to him from those visits to campus and the time he spent around Dabo Swinney and the Tigers’ staff.
“They’re all like family. They’re big on what they do,” he said. “They never change things up. Coach Dabo, he was nice. He gets after it. I like things like that, coaches like that, and it’s just more than football to them. They like to talk about life and other things beyond football, and schools like that, that’s really big to me.”
Bolden’s mother, who hails from the Palmetto State, is a big fan of Clemson as well.
“She loves it,” he said. “My mom is from South Carolina, so she told me she wouldn’t mind me going back to her hometown and things like that. So, that’s going to be one of her top schools.”
Bolden plans to visit Clemson with his mom again this summer if the Tigers pull the trigger on an offer.
“Hopefully I get the offer June 1 so I can come back down there,” he said. “My mom really wants to go back down there. So, hopefully I’ll get it June 1, and then we’ll go on another visit around June, July.”
Bolden said he is looking to visit schools such as Texas A&M, LSU, Florida State, USC and Penn State moving forward.
As it stands now, several schools are locks to make the cut for Bolden when he narrows things down and drops his top-schools list during his junior year.
“Georgia’s definitely going to make it, Alabama, Ole Miss, Ohio State,” he said. “Those are the schools right now, for now. … And if Clemson offers, I’ll definitely mention them.”
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