A five-star defensive lineman from the West Coast visited Clemson this summer to compete at the Dabo Swinney Camp and is looking to return to campus in the fall.
Tacoma (Wash.) Lincoln High School’s Jayden Wayne told The Clemson Insider he “most definitely” wants to make it back to Tiger Town for a game during the upcoming season.
Aside from experiencing the atmosphere at Death Valley, there are a couple of things the 6-foot-5, 245-pound junior in the 2023 class is hoping to get out of his next visit to Clemson.
“An offer and a chance to sit down with Coach Dabo,” Wayne said.
Although Swinney’s program has not yet joined Wayne’s list of more than 30 scholarship offers, the elite pass rusher has been in touch with Clemson assistant coach Todd Bates since his camp visit and expects to hear more from the Tigers when Sept. 1 rolls around and college coaches can begin directly contacting junior prospects.
Bates has let Wayne know that Clemson does things differently in recruiting and wants him to keep building the relationship while staying patient for a potential offer from the Tigers.
If the offer eventually comes, it would certainly be big for Wayne.
“It would mean a lot!” he said. “I’ve liked Clemson for a while. It would definitely put them in my top choices.”
“I enjoyed working with the current players a lot,” he added.
Redshirt junior defensive end K.J. Henry and sophomore defensive end Myles Murphy are a couple of the players Wayne worked with and learned from at the Swinney Camp.
“They taught me a lot during the camp,” he said.
When Wayne looks at Clemson, there is plenty that stands out and appeals to him about the school and football program.
“The players really like it there,” he said. “The family atmosphere. The campus. The coaches all played there and are close. They compete for the national championship every year.”
Along with Clemson, Wayne said he wants to visit Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Miami and Oklahoma during the season. With the exception of Clemson, all of those schools have offered Wayne, who also owns offers from Auburn, LSU, Texas A&M, Texas, Miami, Michigan, Penn State, Notre Dame, Oregon and Southern Cal among others.
Wayne is rated as a five-star by the 247Sports Composite, which tabs him as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Washington, No. 7 defensive lineman nationally and No. 29 overall prospect for the 2023 class.
Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!