A Peach State defensive back drawing interest from Clemson made his way to campus for Clemson’s second junior day of the year on Saturday, March 5.
The Clemson Insider recently caught up with North Oconee High School’s (Bogart, Ga.) Khalil Barnes, who recapped his first visit to Clemson’s campus in an exclusive interview.
“You couldn’t explain it,” Barnes said. “It exceeded a lot of the expectations I had for it. I feel like a lot of them, I know I haven’t talked to them. I had never talked to Coach (Tyler) Grisham. I never talked to Coach (Dab) Swinney. There were a lot of guys that I had never texted, but they didn’t have to look at my name tag or anything, they already knew who I was, knew the information about me.
“That tells me that them and the other coaching staff do their homework. I heard a lot of good things from the coaches. I really like that place. I think Clemson’s the place to be.”
What was Barnes’ favorite part of the visit?
“Probably when we either did P.A.W Journey or when Coach Swinney was talking at the end,” he said, “because he kind of explained to us his philosophy of things and telling us about their recruiting process. He does not take things fast and I respect that from them because they’ve never had the No. 1 recruiting class, but they’re consistently a top-five team in the nation every year. That just shows how he and his coaching staff are able to develop kids and turn them into great players at some point in their careers.”
Barnes spent the majority of his time on campus with Clemson co-defensive coordinator and safeties coach Mickey Conn and cornerbacks coach Mike Reed.
“With Coach Reed, we just talked about how he said that he’s gonna come up during my spring practice,” Barnes said. “He was just asking me how I liked everything and he was keeping it real. We had a cornerback meeting and he was making sure I was engaged and understanding the way they play corner, as well as picking up on some techniques and stuff.”
When Barnes spoke with Swinney and Reed about a potential offer, they were explaining to him how Clemson’s process works. It was his first time on campus and he’s only been in contact with Reed now for a little over two months.
According to Barnes, they were telling him that they don’t like to offer kids based on hype. They want to make sure they get the right type of guys in their program.
“I respect that,” he said. “It wasn’t no set day of when they’re gonna offer or everything. “It was kind of just them telling me that they want to get to know me more. They like my skill set, but they want to keep getting me on campus and make sure I’m interested in Clemson. We’ll kinda see how it goes from there.”
How does he feel about that?
“Obviously, they didn’t tell me that ‘If you come to Junior Day, then you’ll get a scholarship offer to Clemson,'” Barnes said. “It wasn’t nothing like that. But, I did have it in the back of my head that I’m going here and this is a really nice school. Obviously, I want to get the offer, but I’m glad that they didn’t lie to me. I liked that they were straight up.
“They can’t tell me the day they’re gonna offer. They can’t tell me when it’s gonna come. They can’t promise if it’s gonna happen. They set the ground rules of how it works for every recruit and every prospect. I respect that and I’m glad that they didn’t try to false advertise. They kept it straight up with me.”
Barnes texted Conn the day after his visit to tell him it was a humbling experience. The fast-rising defensive back has received a lot of national attention from Power Five schools and he went to Clemson and felt like he received a reality check.
“I’m not gonna take it personally because I can’t blame them,” he said. “They’re obviously doing something right. They’ve had 11 straight 10-win seasons, so it’s not like they’re getting the wrong guys. but it definitely did motivate me to go work and try to get to the point where I am on their radar and offer-ready for them.”
Barnes knows for a fact that he’ll be back on Clemson’s campus. Whether it’s for another spring practice or the team’s spring game on April 9, he’s unsure, but he’s already aiming to make a return trip to Tiger Town.
Regardless of an offer, the Tigers certainly did a lot to help themselves in Barnes’ recruitment earlier this month.
“That’s the first (visit) I’ve been on so far, but that set the standard,” he said. “I’m willing to put in 100%. If I get the opportunity to have a scholarship and play there, they’ll be in the conversation when it’s all said and done.”
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