Two weeks ago, a talented young local quarterback made the short trip to Clemson for an unofficial game visit.
Wren High School (Piedmont, S.C.) 2025 signal-caller Gavin Owens was on campus to take in the Tigers’ 30-20 victory over Florida State at Death Valley on Saturday, Oct. 30.
“It was great,” Owens told The Clemson Insider. “I loved the atmosphere. Felt like I was at home.”
Owens, a 6-foot-4, 191-pound freshman, is the starting quarterback for Wren’s varsity team. Through 10 games this season, according to MaxPreps, he had completed 55 percent of his passes for 1,863 yards and 14 touchdowns to go with 113 yards rushing and three more scores on the ground.
Kentucky and Marshall have already offered the 14-year-old Owens, who is also drawing interest from schools such as Georgia, Auburn, Virginia Tech and Penn State, along with Clemson.
Owens said the Tigers began showing interest a few weeks prior to the FSU game, at which time they invited him to attend the contest.
The highlight of the visit for Owens was meeting quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter, as well as offensive player development coach Tajh Boyd.
What did Owens hear from the coaches while he was on campus?
“That I’ve been working hard during the season and doing great,” he said.
Boyd gave Owens a tour of the football facility before the game, and Owens enjoyed being shown around by the legendary Clemson quarterback.
“It was good, I loved it. I loved the facility,” Owens said.
“The good thing is that I met Tajh Boyd was when I was younger,” he added. “I was I think maybe 6 or 7, and it was good meeting him again [now that] I’m all grown up.”
In addition to interacting with Boyd and Streeter, one of the highlights of the day for Owens was seeing the Tigers rub Howard’s Rock and run down the hill before taking on the Seminoles.
“I really loved it,” he said of the most exciting 25 seconds in college football. “It was cool.”
A multi-sport athlete, Owens also plays basketball at Wren. Owens and the Hurricanes’ football team will face Powdersville in the second round of the Class 3A state playoffs tonight.