Lemanski Hall stopped by the high school of a pass-rusher that he’d previously been in contact with.
Clemson’s defensive ends coach was checking in on St. John’s High School (Washington, D.C.) four-star David Ojiegbe, who recently rekindled his relationship with the Tigers and already has a connection to the program.
Ojiegbe is supposed to be in attendance for Clemson’s Elite Prospect Day on Saturday, March 5.
“I’m definitely excited to come down to Clemson and see how it is,” he said. “I’m excited to see how it is and see how the culture is down there.”
Ojiegbe is also excited to see his former teammate, Clemson defensive tackle Tré “Groovy” Williams, with who he has a close relationship. With that being said, what has Williams told him about Clemson?
“He was talking about how good it is, the culture and how he likes it,” Ojiegbe said. “He said it’s very good down there and you’re gonna be pushed. So, it sounds pretty good to me. I’m just definitely waiting to see when I get down there. I like what he was telling me, though.”
As for his relationship with Hall, Ojiegbe is starting to build a bond. They first got in contact when he was a sophomore, but their conversations were few and far between. Now, their relationship is growing as they’ve been able to talk with each other more often.
In his conversations with Hall, Clemson’s defensive ends coach has compared Ojiegbe to a current Tiger in Xavier Thomas.
“I definitely like the way that he plays,” Ojiegbe said. “He’s very aggressive, very physical and very nasty. I like his get off the ball, he’s a big guy, but he’s moving. I look at him like ‘He can go.'”
Ojiegbe (6-4, 245) saw his recruitment pick up during January, as he added offers from Kansas, Morgan State, Duke, UConn, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Toledo, Marshall, North Carolina and was re-offered by the new staff at the University of Miami. He’s also added offers from Jackson State and Akron this month.
“It definitely feels surreal, it doesn’t even feel real,” Ojiegbe said regarding his recruitment taking off. “It feels good that (my hard work) is paying off, but it also makes me want to grind harder because I know there’s more to get. I haven’t reached anything yet. I still have to go to college and produce. So, I definitely still want to grind harder and I can always achieve more.”
Ojiegbe already listed plenty of offers before the start of 2022. Now, the nation’s No. 20 ranked edge rusher per the 247Sports Composite, has nearly 30 scholarship offers in hand.
Though he didn’t take visits last month, in addition to Clemson, he plans on visiting UNC, South Carolina and Oregon in March. As far as his recruitment is concerned, Ojiegbe is in an evaluation mode. He wants to go on these visits and see where he’s at. Right now, his goal is to commit prior to the start of his senior season, in either June or July.
“So these next visits I take, just evaluating the schools, evaluating where I fit in the scheme, how the coaches like me, our relationship and how they talk to me really, is gonna be a big factor,” he said.
This past season, Ojiegbe helped St. John’s capture a championship, while leading them to an 11-0 record. He led the WCAC with 17.5 sacks and was named first-team All-Met. He didn’t get to break the sack record his junior year, but he’s looking to surpass the league record of 19.5 sacks in his senior campaign.
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