A coveted linebacker prospect from the Peach State participated in Day 1 of the Dabo Swinney Camp on Wednesday, June 1.
Woodward Academy (Atlanta, Ga.) four-star linebacker Andrew Hines III — a 6-foot-1, 215-pound rising junior in the class of 2024 — had a great time while competing at the camp and working with the Tigers’ coaching staff.
Hines was invited to participate in the afternoon session of Swinney Camp. After camp, Hines had the chance to walk around a bit and received a campus tour. He also had the chance to watch film with Clemson’s coaching staff and chopped it up with Wesley Goodwin and Stephone Anthony.
“We talked about what they’re looking for in a linebacker,” Hines recalled in a phone interview with The Clemson Insider Saturday. “(Coach Goodwin) told me that the (class of 2024) linebacker group, he’s moving really slow with that. So, he said probably by my junior year, I should hear something.”
Hines was appreciative that Goodwin was forthright about how Clemson is currently handling doling out offers to the class of 2024. It genuinely made Hines feel better because he was under the impression that he could’ve done more during the camp.
Clesmon has only offered two linebackers from Hines’ class — Jefferson (Ga.) five-star Sammy Brown and Our Lady Good Counsel HS (Onley, MD.) four-star Aaron Chiles. At the moment, less than 30 rising junior prospects currently hold offers from the Tigers.
“It makes me feel better knowing that he is going to sometime in the future pull the trigger,” Hines said.
If/when Clemson pulls the trigger on a potential scholarship offer, what would that mean for Hines and his recruitment?
“I have to look at all the options that I have, but Clemson would definitely be up there,” he said.
And while Hines would love to have an offer in hand, he understands that patience is a virtue. His teammate at Woodward, four-star defensive end AJ Hoffler, committed to Clemson earlier this summer. Hoffler didn’t receive an offer from the Tigers until March of his junior year.
“It does show that if you’re patient, things will come later because everyone blows up at a different time,” Hines said. “Some people get the offer earlier than others. Some people get the offer later than others. You just got to be patient and wait not until the very end, but you want to wait a little bit to see all (the offers) you can get.”
Speaking of offers, this past spring was significant for Hines and his recruitment. Dating back to late March, Hines has added offers to his growing lists from schools like Illinois, Cal, Western Kentucky, Mississippi State, Harvard, Duke, UConn, Ole Miss, Memphis, Wake Forest, Arkansas State, UAB and Virginia Tech.
This summer, Hines traveled to Tennessee, Auburn, Georgia and Georgia Tech with his football team, in addition to camping at Clemson and Notre Dame. Hines also visited both Wake Forest and Duke, while he has plans to visit Northwestern later this month. Alabama and Auburn also could receive visits from him as well.
“It’s been good. I’ve gotten to see the difference of what each school brings to the table, the ups and downs of going to different schools,” Hines said. “It definitely is good that I get to go to so many places. I get to see what some schools bring and what other schools don’t. I get to compare schools, which really helps me narrow down and gets me closer to making a decision.”
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