Earlier this summer, Clemson played host to a Peach State cornerback, who is a former teammate of a current Tigers freshman.
Israel “Jacob“ Boyce — a 6-foot, 175-pound rising junior out of Douglas County High (Georgia) — participated in the June 1 session of Dabo Swinney Camp. He also had the chance to camp at programs like Alabama, Auburn, Ohio State and LSU this summer.
Though Boyce, who is a former teammate and close friend of Myles Oliver, kept coming back to his time at Clemson and spoke glowingly of his experience in a phone interview with The Clemson Insider recently.
“My experience at Clemson was great,” Boyce said. “I already loved Clemson. I already had a spot in my heart about Clemson. When I went up there — it was different. When I went through the camp, the competition was great, getting to compete with players from all over the country.
After he participated in that day’s particular session of Swinney Camp, Boyce was taken on a tour of campus. Boyce loves to be in the weight room and see the progression that he has, so the weight room at Clemson stood out to him.
Was there anything that stood out about his camp experience?
“(Cornerbacks) Coach (Mike) Reed, he was really on me in the camp,” Boyce said. “I messed up a couple of times and he held me accountable like, after the drills, he was making me go back out there. I competed well at the camp. They ended up moving me from 2024 to compete with the seniors in 2023.”
Boyce loves that type of coaching.
“I’d rather learn what I’m doing wrong than keep doing the wrong thing and keep making the same mistake,” Boyce added. “I love that he kept holding me accountable and kept making me re-do it.”
That style of coaching was one of the pieces that helped sell one of Boyce’s former teammates — Myles Oliver — on Clemson. The freshman cornerback is currently amidst his first fall camp at Clemson and from all indications, has received that same level of hands-on coaching from Reed that Boyce received earlier this summer.
The way Oliver talks about Clemson, Boyce really wanted to see it for himself.
“Every time he comes back down here, we always talk about Clemson,” Boyce said of Oliver. “The first time we see each other, it’s always one of the first things he talks about. Before I came up from the camp, me and Myles was already talking about it. But after I visited, it was just more and more Clemson.”
Boyce had been talking with Reed, even before he started to rake in the scholarship offers this past spring. Since the end of April, Boyce has added offers from Middle Tennessee State, Coastal Carolina, Boston College, Arkansas State, Buffalo, Florida A&M, Liberty, Akron, Eastern Michigan and Morehouse College.
He believes that this season ahead will be big for him and his current recruitment.
“My recruitment is still going up,” he said. “I’m waiting on that Clemson (offer).”
What would a potential offer from the Tigers mean to Boyce?
“That would be a game-changer,” he said. “That would be different. I’m already in love with Clemson, so that would be different.”
According to Boyce, Reed wants to get him back up on campus for a game day visit this fall.
“That was music to my ears because I definitely want to come back up there,” Boyce said. “When he said that, that was one of the biggest things. But, he also said that he was going to stay on top of me. Ever since then, Myles (Oliver) he’ll come back and share with me some stuff about what Coach Reed said.”
— Photo for this article courtesy of Israel Boyce.
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