When Clemson formally turned the page to offering prospects in the 2024 class on Wednesday, June 1, and started doling out offers to rising junior recruits, one of the first to report an offer from the Tigers was Woodland (Dorchester, S.C.) four-star offensive tackle Kam Pringle.
“It was good getting back up there for the first time since the offer,” Pringle told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview. “Really just hanging out with Coach (Thomas) Austin and Coach (Robbie) Caldwell, Coach Swinney and the rest of the staff and just building a relationship.”
Pringle was back on campus for an unofficial visit on June 11.
While he didn’t participate in that particular session of that day’s Swinney Camp, he had plenty of meetings with the coaches. Not only did he have a chance to talk with Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, but he also had the opportunity to go out to lunch with Austin after watching him run the morning session of camp.
According to Pringle, Clemson let him know that he’s at the top of the board and it reinforced that he’s a priority target for them with him being an in-state offensive lineman. That became even more true when the Tigers offered Pringle
After attending an athletics banquet that afternoon, Pringle got a text from his head coach, who told him to give Austin a call. He had lost track of time and didn’t realize that the phone call would be about an offer. While it wasn’t totally unexpected, Pringle was pleasantly surprised to have an offer from the Tigers in hand that evening.
“You kind of learn not to expect anything,” Pringle said, “but, I expect the coaches to keep their word. Coach Caldwell and Coach Austin let me know early on that when the time comes, I’d get a call June 1st.”
Clemson’s offensive line coach kept his word.
“With Coach Austin, I really like his coaching style,” Pringle said of Clemson’s offensive line coach. “He doesn’t yell at (his players). He gives them a stern talking to. He feels like yelling and cussing out isn’t going to help because you know what you did wrong, so there’s no reason for him to yell about that. Just seeing him coach and then him as a person, spending time with him, being around him with his son and just seeing how he is as a father, it’s really reassuring to see that from a coach.”
As far as his current recruitment is concerned things have been going steady for Pringle, who has continued to pick up offers and take visits. He’s trying to slow down the process a bit, as he prepares to trim down his list. Pringle had the chance to make his rounds last month, hitting some schools that he was looking forward to visiting for the first time, camping at some priority spots and making unofficial visits to important places like Clemson.
Pringle will be dropping his top 10 schools on his birthday — Sept. 13.
“Of course like a family feel,” Pringle said when asked what he’s looking for in a school that he places in his top 10. “Schools that are in my top 10 are schools that I feel that I’m in their top 10..really just investing in the schools that are investing in me.”
A prospect of Pringle’s stature doesn’t exactly have to wait until Sept. 1, to see what schools are showing the most love.
Pringle still needs to get a graphic and everything made, so he’s thinking he’ll have his list wrapped up by Sept. 8. He feels like a week of open calls should be enough for him to see which schools are actually invested and interested.
“Once that top 10 is in, I don’t plan on adding any schools or taking any schools off until I slim down the list,” he said.
Now that he has an offer from Clemson in hand, where would Pringle say the Tigers currently stand in his recruitment?
“They’re definitely a top school,” Pringle said. “You can look to see them in my top-10, as of right now, but everything could change in two days.”
Pringle (6-7, 315) is the No. 1 prospect in the state of South Carolina for the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings, which consider him the No. 3 offensive tackle nationally and No. 63 overall prospect in his class.
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