This big-time prospect from the Peach State is garnering substantial interest from Clemson wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham and scheduled to be on campus next month.
Milton (Ga.) High School four-star receiver Debron Gatling plans to visit Clemson on March 12 and take in one of the Tigers’ spring practices.
“I’m really excited,” Gatling told The Clemson Insider. “I’m most looking forward to how they practice, because Coach Grisham told me I’ll get to check out how they practice, and the facilities and meeting other coaches there.”
Gatling – a 6-foot-2, 185-pound sophomore – told TCI he has talked with Grisham twice in the last week or so.
“He’s been saying how they offer, the offer process they go (through) at Clemson, how it’s late and they don’t go (out) till like junior year,” Gatling said of what he heard during his conversations with Grisham. “He was telling me that he had wanted me to come out to the visit on the 12th, but he was only inviting a couple of ‘24s that day out there that’s on his board. So, that really caught my eye. Like, that makes it seem like I’m a top target for them. So, that’s why I decided to go there and visit.”
The interest Grisham has conveyed is a big deal for Gatling.
“It means a lot because I grew up liking Clemson,” he said. “I grew up watching Clemson, and I know that they produce some good receivers. So, that means a lot to me that I’m high on his list.”
Gatling is building a solid bond with Grisham and has plenty of respect for him. He is fond of Grisham, both as a person and coach, and appreciates how Grisham coached him up when he participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp last summer, showing he cared about helping Gatling improve his game.
“I think our relationship is pretty good right now,” Gatling said. “I know he’s a really good coach when I worked with him at the camp last year, my freshman year, and he was critiquing me. What a good coach needs to do, he was letting me know stuff I could do that would make me get out of my breaks faster, and other releases and stuff that I really like. And then I see that it actually works in games because I see his receivers doing it. So, I know he’s a good coach, and his personality is great. Every time we talk, he’s a cool guy to talk to, and our bond is pretty good when we get on the phone.”
That camp visit to Clemson last June is the lone trip to Tiger Town that Gatling has made to this point. Thus far this offseason, Alabama is the only school he’s been to, though he is slated to visit Southern Cal on March 5 and also plans to check out schools such as Oregon, Texas A&M and Texas.
Clemson is among the schools making Gatling feel like a priority early in his recruiting process.
“Right now, you could say that Clemson’s standing out a little bit,” he said. “You could say Clemson, Oregon, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Michigan. These are just the schools that show me that I’m a top target for them. Tennessee, too.”
All those schools have offered Gatling (besides Clemson), and he also holds offers from schools like Georgia, Texas, Miami, Florida State, Auburn, Georgia Tech, Pittsburgh, Louisville, Kentucky and Arkansas.
As a sophomore last season, Gatling grabbed 36 receptions for 705 yards and 11 touchdowns.
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