This top offensive line prospect has come a long way in the recruiting process.
As a high school freshman, Johnathan “Bo” Hughley didn’t own a single scholarship offer. Now, as a junior, the four-star offensive tackle from Langston Hughes High School (Fairburn, Ga.) holds more than a dozen offers and is considered one of the top players at his position — and a top-75 national prospect in the 2023 class regardless of position — by multiple recruiting services.
“Everything’s been going perfect actually,” Hughley said of the recruiting process in a recent interview with The Clemson Insider. “In my ninth-grade year, I didn’t have any offers, and for me to gain as many offers as I could from 10th grade to the beginning of my 11th-grade [year] is awesome. So, everything’s been going good.”
Hughley is ranked as the No. 5 offensive tackle and No. 60 overall prospect in the 2023 class by Rivals, while ESPN touts him as the No. 6 OT and No. 68 overall prospect in his class. According to the 247Sports Composite, he is the No. 6 OT and No. 72 overall prospect in the class.
The 6-foot-7, 290-pounder had a busy summer traveling around the South to check out a bunch of schools, including Clemson. He competed at the Dabo Swinney Camp in June and got attention from offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell while on campus.
“When I went, I did the camp first,” Hughley said. “It was two parts of the camp. During the little break part, the coaches took me — and I was with a couple of my teammates, so they were with me — and we did a tour around the school, tried on uniforms, etcetera. And the conversation we were having with the coaches, I was really blessed that he [Caldwell] came to me personally for a conversation, and out of the whole group, I stood out to him. The bond I feel like I could build with the coaches would be great.”
Caldwell gave Hughley’s camp showing positive reviews, while also sending him home with feedback that Hughley could use to improve his game as an offensive lineman.
“He was telling me how he liked my camp performance, but he gave me some tips on what I could work on,” Hughley said.
The coaching Hughley received at the camp from not only Caldwell and Clemson’s staff, but also some of the current players that worked the camp, stood out to him and told him a lot about the coaches.
“The players were coaching us, and it’s great that the players can take the knowledge that they’ve learned from practice and camps and come put it in and help the youth,” Hughley said. “That shows a lot about the coaching. It shows that the coaches are actually coaching and showing the players how to play the game of football.”
Along with Clemson, Hughley visited schools such as Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Auburn, Ole Miss, North Carolina and North Carolina A&T this summer.
Hughley’s offer list includes Georgia, Georgia Tech, Auburn, Ole Miss, Florida State, Miami, UCF, Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi State, Pittsburgh and West Virginia among others.
Hughley plans to narrow things down sometime during his junior year but doesn’t intend to commit until his senior year in 2022. As of now, he says “everything’s still wide open” in his recruitment.
Hughley has learned that Clemson takes the recruiting process slower than most schools, so he is staying patient as he keeps his fingers crossed for a potential offer from the Tigers down the road.
“Clemson is one of the schools I’m waiting on to offer me,” he said.
“Honestly, it would mean everything,” he added of a Clemson offer. “I have dreamed about going to Clemson.”
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