Tag: Braxton Myers

Elite Junior Day preview: Top talent flocking to Tiger Town

Clemson is set to host a plethora of top talent on Saturday, when the Tigers will hold their elite junior day and welcome some of the nation’s top prospects in the 2023 class to campus. One of the headlining junior day visitors will be Birmingham …

Clemson is set to host a plethora of top talent on Saturday, when the Tigers will hold their elite junior day and welcome some of the nation’s top prospects in the 2023 class to campus.

One of the headlining junior day visitors will be Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian four-star signal caller Christopher Vizzina (pictured above), the No. 8 quarterback and No. 85 overall prospect in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Vizzina camped at Clemson last summer and returned to campus for the Wake Forest game on Nov. 20, when he picked up an offer from the Tigers. He will be the lone quarterback on campus for Clemson’s elite junior day.

“I’m super excited,” he told The Clemson Insider. “It’s their elite junior day, so everybody up there is one of the top players in the country, so that should be really awesome.”

Among the other headliners expected to be on hand for Clemson’s elite junior day are a pair of five-star defensive tackles in Thompson High School (Alabaster, Ala.)’s Peter Woods and Warner Robins (Ga.) High School’s Vic Burley.

Woods, ranked as the No. 4 defensive lineman in the 2023 class per the 247Sports Composite, released a top six in December that included Clemson along with Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia and Oregon. The Tigers extended an offer to Woods back on June 1 of last year – the first day they began offering prospects in the 2023 class. He visited Clemson during the Dabo Swinney Camp last June and returned to campus for the Boston College and Florida State games in October.

Burley, ranked as the No. 6 defensive lineman in the 2023 class according to the 247Sports Composite, likewise received an offer from Clemson on June 1. He was on campus last June as well and returned to Tiger Town for the UConn game in November.

Several other big-time defensive linemen are also slated to be in attendance for Saturday’s elite junior day, including Highland Home (Ala.) four-star Keldric Faulk, Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola four-star Derrick LeBlanc, Columbus (Ga.) Carver four-star Darron Reed, New Bern (N.C.) four-star Keith Sampson and Hickory (N.C.) four-star Rico Walker.

Faulk, Reed, Sampson and Walker all earned offers from Clemson earlier this month. Sampson dropped a top five on Jan. 15 featuring Clemson, Georgia, NC State, Ohio State and South Carolina, while LeBlanc, who received an offer from Clemson last September, named the Tigers one of his final seven schools in December along with Florida, Miami, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Penn State and UCF.

A longstanding Clemson cornerback target in the 2023 class who will make his way back to campus Saturday is Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake four-star Avieon Terrell – of course, the younger brother of former Clemson and current Atlanta Falcons cornerback A.J. Terrell.

Clemson offered the younger Terrell back in April 2020, and he’s made countless trips to The Valley ever since. He is ranked as the No. 15 cornerback and No. 103 overall prospect nationally in the 2023 class, per Rivals.

Terrell will be joined at Clemson’s elite junior day by a couple of other standout defensive backs: Coppell (Texas) four-star cornerback Braxton Myers and Selma (Ala.) four-star safety DaKaari Nelson.

Myers received an offer from Clemson on Wednesday of last week, and head coach Dabo Swinney paid a visit to his school earlier this week. Nelson doesn’t currently hold an offer from the Tigers, though they’re showing substantial interest and co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Mickey Conn stopped by his school on Thursday.

“Lately they’ve been saying they like the way I play and they want to offer me, but Coach Swinney wants to see me in person before they do,” Nelson told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Thursday.

Other prominent prospects planning to attend Clemson’s elite junior day include Roswell (Ga.) Blessed Trinity Catholic four-star running back Justice Haynes, Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan four-star offensive lineman Sam Pendleton, Lakeland (Fla.) four-star wide receiver Tyler Williams and Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson four-star linebacker Grayson Howard.

As always, visitor lists like this one are fluid and subject to change. But here is the full list of prospects that The Clemson Insider has confirmed as expected visitors for Saturday’s elite junior day:

Warner Robins (Ga.) 2023 5-star DL Vic Burley

Alabaster (Ala.) Thompson 2023 5-star DL Peter Woods

Columbus (Ga.) Carver 2023 4-star DL Darron Reed

Highland Home (Ala.) 2023 4-star DL Keldric Faulk

New Bern (N.C.) 2023 4-star DL Keith Sampson

Kissimmee (Fla.) Osceola 2023 4-star DL Derrick LeBlanc

Hickory (N.C.) 2023 4-star DL Rico Walker

Birmingham (Ala.) Briarwood Christian 2023 4-star QB Christopher Vizzina

Selma (Ala.) 2023 4-star S DaKaari Nelson

Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan 2023 4-star OL Sam Pendleton

Lakeland (Fla.) 2023 4-star WR Tyler Williams

Roswell (Ga.) Blessed Trinity Catholic 2023 4-star RB Justice Haynes

Atlanta (Ga.) Westlake 2023 4-star CB Avieon Terrell

Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson 2023 4-star LB Grayson Howard

Coppell (Texas) 2023 4-star S Braxton Myers

Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.

Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help.  #SaveNicks

Swinney stops by school of elite Texas corner, son of former NFL player

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made a recruiting stop Monday at a Lone Star State high school to check in on an elite defensive back in the 2023 class. Swinney was at Coppell (Texas) High School, home to four-star cornerback Braxton Myers, a …

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney made a recruiting stop Monday at a Lone Star State high school to check in on an elite defensive back in the 2023 class.

Swinney was at Coppell (Texas) High School, home to four-star cornerback Braxton Myers, a consensus top-150 national prospect according to the major recruiting services who is ranked as high as the No. 100 overall prospect in the 2023 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Myers (6-1, 185) always dreamed of having an offer from Clemson and scored that offer from the Tigers last Wednesday.

“It meant everything,” he told The Clemson Insider after receiving the offer, “because that’s what I’ve really been working for. I know it’s very hard to get that (Clemson) offer and not everybody has it. So, it’s pretty meaningful to get and say I have it.”

Myers camped at Clemson this past summer, and cornerbacks coach Mike Reed has been keeping tabs on him ever since.

“I would say our relationship is very tight like he knows all my family,” Myers said of Reed. “Relationship-wise, I feel like I can talk to him about anything because he’s just known me for so long. He’s just a great dude. I can talk about anything with him.”

Myers lists over 30 offers, including Southern Cal, Mizzou, Florida State, Kentucky and now Clemson, which have all extended offers to him since the start of the new year.

Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall played with Myers’ father, Michael, in the NFL.

Michael played his college football at the University of Alabama, where he was a first-team All-American. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL draft.

He went on to play 10 years in the NFL and split time between Dallas, Cleveland, Denver and Cincinnati. In 138 career games, the former defensive tackle recorded 259 tackles, 15.5 sacks and an interception.

Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.

Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help.  #SaveNicks

Clemson offer ‘means everything’ to elite 4-star cornerback

Braxton Myers always dreamed of having a Clemson offer. The elite cornerback out of Coppell (TX.) saw his dreams come true Wednesday when the Tigers officially extended him a scholarship offer. “It meant everything,” he told The Clemson Insider in a …

Braxton Myers always dreamed of having a Clemson offer.

The elite cornerback out of Coppell (TX.) saw his dreams come true Wednesday when the Tigers officially extended him a scholarship offer.

“It meant everything,” he told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Wednesday, “because that’s what I’ve really been working for. I know it’s very hard to get that (Clemson) offer and not everybody has it. So, it’s pretty meaningful to get and say I have it.”

Myers had been in contact with Mike Reed over the past couple of weeks. He’s another prospect that’s reaped the benefits of attending the Dabo Swinney Camp over the years. He camped at Clemson this past summer and Reed has been keeping tabs on him ever since. 

“I would say our relationship is very tight like he knows all my family,” he said of Reed. “Relationship-wise, I feel like I can talk to him about anything because he’s just known me for so long. He’s just a great dude. I can talk about anything with him.”

Reed had previously coached up Myers at Clemson’s camps over the years but has been impressed by his progression into one of the more elite prospects across the country at the cornerback position.

“Coach Reed always knew me and he hit me up last week about my recent film,” Myers said. “He was just talking about how I grew as a player. He was saying how I was different from what I was freshman year and he could tell that I’d really been working.

“He was just talking about my aggression, how when the ball’s in the air, I can easily go get it and take it out of a receiver’s hand. Really, since I transferred, just seeing me playing against higher-level talent and he liked that about me. He thinks my tackling skills are great too.” 

While some recruiting services have Myers pegged as a safety and others have him pegged as a cornerback, he told TCI that Clemson offered him at the latter position, hence why Reed has served as his primary recruiter. 

The prospect of playing for Reed at the next level is enticing to Myers.

“It’s very exciting to me,” he said, “because being coached by one of the best in the country, like he can possibly do that with me and I can possibly be just like (Mario Goodrich III and Andrew Booth, Jr.), just giving him a chance. It would be great to learn from him and everything.”

Funny enough, Myers sees himself in the mold of a former Clemson standout cornerback in A.J. Terrell, who now plays for the Atlanta Falcons. In comparing himself to Terrell, Myers (6-1, 185) says he is similar in size and has a similar skill set.

Most schools have told Myers that he can play anywhere in their defense because he has the size, skill set and speed to do so, he said.

As far as his recruitment is concerned, Myers would like to take a couple more unofficial visits and then narrow down his options to the 10 schools that he’s very interested in. Then, he’ll go from there.

He lists over 30 offers, including Southern Cal, Mizzou, Florida State, Kentucky and now Clemson, which have all extended offers to him since the start of the new year.

Right now, it’s likely that Myers will be in attendance at Clemson’s Elite Junior Day on Jan. 29. He’s hoping to make it up there, as his father was looking for flights during TCI’s conversation with Myers on Wednesday night.

For Myers, it’s “really cool” that he’ll return to Clemson nearly seven months later with an offer in hand. The past two times he was at Clemson, he was just working as hard as he could to earn that offer. Now he has it and will be able to see what the program is all about from a behind-the-scenes perspective.

“I really liked it a lot,” Myers said regarding his past experiences at Clemson. “When I was up there, Coach Reed was the main person, who went around and watched. He had his assistants and players run the camps and I had just seen how the players interacted with everybody and it’s just cool.”

When Myers announced his offer on Twitter, he also tagged DeAndre McDaniel and Lemanski Hall in his Tweet.

McDaniel, a former Clemson cornerback, who now is a defensive analyst on Dabo Swinney’s staff, introduced himself to Myers on Tuesday and wanted to see what his plans were for Jan. 29. As for Hall, Clemson’s defensive ends coach, he played with Braxton’s father, Michael, in the NFL.

Michael played his college football at the University of Alabama, where he was a first-team All-American. He was selected by the Dallas Cowboys in the fourth round of the 1998 NFL draft.

He went on to play 10 years in the NFL and split time between Dallas, Cleveland, Denver and Cincinnati. In 138 career games, the former defensive tackle recorded 259 tackles, 15.5 sacks and an interception.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Top cornerback receives offer from Tigers

Clemson handed out its second offer of the day, this one going to a top cornerback prospect in the 2023 recruiting class. Coppell (TX.) four-star Braxton Myers announced an offer from the Tigers on Twitter Wednesday evening. Myers (6-1, 185) is …

Clemson handed out its second offer of the day, this one going to a top cornerback prospect in the 2023 recruiting class.

Coppell (TX.) four-star Braxton Myers announced an offer from the Tigers on Twitter Wednesday evening.

Myers (6-1, 185) is considered to be the No. 6 safety in the class of 2023, while Rivals considers him to be the No. 19 cornerback prospect in his class.

The elite cornerback prospect recorded 40 tackles (five for loss), three interceptions, 11 PBUs and a forced fumble across his junior campaign.

Extra Points: Clemson offered Robbinsdale Cooper (Minneapolis, MN.) 2023 four-star tight end Jaxon Howard earlier Wednesday afternoon. Howard (6-4, 245) ranks as the No. 7 athlete, No. 80 overall propsect nationally and No. 1 recruit in the state of Minnesota for the 2023 recruiting class.

Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!

Texas re-offers 2023 four-star defensive back Braxton Myers

One of the top defensive backs in the 2023 class.

After a strong junior season for Coppell High School, four-star defensive back Braxton Myers announced that he was re-offered by the University of Texas on Monday. Continue reading “Texas re-offers 2023 four-star defensive back Braxton Myers”

Texas target Braxton Myers gets invite to UA showcase

Texas recently offered a scholarship to John Paul II’s Braxton Myers. He received an invite to the Under Armour showcase in Mansfield, Texas

The Texas Longhorns coaching staff recently made an offer to 2023 cornerback out of John Paul II High School in Plano, Texas. The future college cornerback has received a total of 11 offers so far early on in his recruitment. Myers tweeted out that he was invited to the Under Armour Underclassmen Showcase that takes place at RL Anderson Stadium in Mansfield, Texas.

This is a big opportunity for Myers to showcase his skills as he continues to work towards realizing a dream of player Division I college football. He was a key part of John Paul’s defense in 2019 as a freshman. His high school coach and former Dallas Cowboy George Teague spoke glowingly about Myers.

Size, physical, speed, HIPS, master already at press technique. We put him on opponents best WR last year and he was a freshman. – Teague on what makes his special

The fact that Myers was asked to cover the best opposing wide receiver as a freshman on the Varsity team shows you just how good he can be. The state of Texas has produced many top cornerbacks over the years. The most recent being Jeff Okudah who attended Ohio State, he was a Grand Prairie product. Myers could be another one of those guys who can really develop into a top tier cornerback.

In today’s college game, having a guy who can shutdown the top threat is an asset. He has already mastered the press coverage technique which will help him immensely. Braxton Myers is definitely a name to keep in mind as his recruitment continues.