After catching up with F.W. Bucholz (Gainesville, Fla.) three-star Creed Whittemore following his first unofficial visit to campus last month, The Clemson Insider first reported that the talented slot receiver, who also plays quarterback, would be making his way back to The Valley in March.
Whittemore — a 5-11.5, 175-pound junior — announced Wednesday that he will officially be back on Clemson’s campus come March 5.
“I’m gonna go back on March 5,” he told TCI. “I’ve been talking to Coach (Tyler) Grisham about every week, just normal recruiting stuff and normal conversations. It’s gonna be a great opportunity to get back up there.
“Obviously, we’ve already talked about kind of the offer process because since I play quarterback, a lot of schools would like me to run routes in person, which I’m truly OK with. So, he’s gonna come to a spring practice in May and watch me run around. I think March 5 is a great opportunity to get to know maybe some of the other coaches that I haven’t met yet. It’ll be fun.”
While Whittemore has already been to Clemson, his second visit will be a bit different, considering he’ll be there for a spring practice. With that being said, what is he looking to get out of his upcoming campus visit?
“I think it’s always a cool opportunity to see a practice and not everybody is able to see their team practice before they’re able to make a decision,” Whittemore said. “Being able to see the coaches interact with players is gonna be a great insight into what the community around the football team is really like. I think it gives you a good inside view of what you’re getting into if you go to a place.”
Whittemore envisions that he’ll probably spend most of his time with the other wide receivers when he’s on campus, so it’ll give him a good taste of how Grisham, Clemson’s wide receivers coach, coaches and what he really keys on. For Whittemore, he figures it’ll be interesting to see Grisham’s philosophies, how to come out of breaks and things of that nature.
How would Whittemore currently categorize his relationship with Grisham?
“I think being able to talk to a coach is always important before you make decisions,” he said of his relationship with Grisham. “I think that’s where Coach Grisham wanted to get, where we’ve grown our relationship, talking back and forth. I think that’s special when you have a relationship like that with a coach, before you even get there. I think he does a great job of that.”
As far as his recruitment is concerned, Whittemore has recently picked up offers as a wide receiver from Mississippi State and Maryland, while schools like Georgia State and Florida Atlantic have offered him as a quarterback.
“It’s always an encouragement to get offers and a blessing,” he said. “But, I think right now, I haven’t made any decisions. I’ll probably try to have some sort of a top-5 or top-3, either coming out of spring football or maybe going in. So, we’ll see. It’s an exciting time and not everyone gets to have this their junior year of high school.
While Whittemore is as humble as they come, he believes that seeing these offers roll in is a testament to the hard work he’s been putting in.
“Say Clemson offered or somebody else, they would definitely be high up on my list, in terms of where I want to go,” Whitemore added. “But the opportunities I have right now are awesome too.”
In addition to visiting Clemson next month, Whittemore estimates that over his spring break, he’ll go to Oklahoma and try to do a little triangle with Mississippi State and Texas A&M. He also runs track in the spring, which also takes up a lot of his time, so he’s not trying to put too much on his plate.
He does know that a lot of colleges will come out to Bucholz’s spring practices when it comes down to watching him run routes.
All in all, he’s excited to get back to Clemson.
“Definitely,” he said. “I really enjoyed it. I think I could definitely see myself there and if I got an offer there, they would probably, automatically most likely go in my top-3 as of right now, or at least top-5. I’m really looking forward to continuing building a relationship and come spring practice, hopefully, I’ll get that offer and that’ll be pretty cool.”
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