An in-state receiver prospect, garnering interest from several FBS programs, made his first-ever gameday visit as a recruit to Clemson for the Tigers’ 35-12 win over Furman on Saturday, Sept. 10.
Mac McLean wasn’t sure what his first experience at Death Valley as a recruit would be like, but the 6-foot-2, 190-pound junior in the class of 2024 from Greenville (S.C.) High School certainly wasn’t disappointed.
“It’s a whole different perspective from being a fan,” McLean recently told The Clemson Insider. “I got to see everything the football team went through preparing for the game, and after the game, celebrating in the locker room. Just hearing Coach (Dabo) Swinney talk to the team after the game was pretty cool.”
“It was amazing,” he added of his experience. “Probably talking to Coach (Tyler) Grisham (was the highlight of my experience). Right when I got there, he was actually across the street at his office. Within three minutes, he was over there and he came right up to me and talked to me and my dad. It was great.”
Clemson’s wide receivers coach chatted with McLean about his junior season, which is his first significant run time with Greenville’s varsity team.
“I feel like I’ve done pretty good,” he said. “I’m just trying to do my part, going wherever the coaches need me. I can play inside, and outside on both sides and know the routes for all the plays…Wherever they need a body, they can put me.”
Grisham has been communicating with McLean since the calendar turned to Sept. 1, when college coaches across the country could begin directly contacting junior prospects in the class of 2024.
“It was amazing,” McLean began when asked about Grisham reaching out on Sept. 1. “I’m gonna be honest, I did not stay up until midnight on Sept. 1, but I woke up the next morning and saw that I got a text from him at 12:20. I was very excited.”
In addition to Clemson, McLean has been in contact with schools like Virginia Tech, Florida, Furman and Citadel. He also attended Clemson’s 51-45 double overtime win over Wake Forest in Winston-Salem this past Saturday.
It made McLean realize just how special his experience at Clemson was.
“I realized there is not a gameday atmosphere like Clemson,” he said.
He’s hoping to get back to Clemson and also make visits to both Virginia Tech and Florida. McLean said that he’ll definitely try to get back for Clemson’s game against Syracuse on Oct. 22 or its matchup against the University of Miami on Nov. 19.
Circling back to the Furman game, McLean was paying a lot of attention to the offensive side of the football, not just because he’s an offensive player himself, but his former teammates Collin Sadler and Josh Sapp are both now at Clemson.
“I was really impressed with their offense,” McLean said. “We got to go in their locker room after the game and Dabo was talking about how D.J. (Uiagalelei) had the highest passing rating and (Will) Shipley had a couple of touchdowns, the receivers and everybody did great.”
McLean admitted that getting to be in the locker room postgame was probably the second best part of his first Clemson gameday experience as a recruit.
Photo for this article courtesy Mac McLean.
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