Tag: Keith Sampson Jr.

Clemson DL target commits to another ACC school

A Clemson defensive line target in the class of 2023 committed to another ACC school on Saturday. New Bern (N.C.) four-star Keith Sampson Jr. announced his verbal pledge to Florida State via social media while on a visit in Tallahassee. Sampson …

A Clemson defensive line target in the class of 2023 committed to another ACC school on Saturday.

New Bern (N.C.) four-star Keith Sampson Jr. announced his verbal pledge to Florida State via social media while on a visit in Tallahassee.

Sampson received an offer from Clemson on Jan. 4 and attended the Tigers’ elite junior day Jan. 29.

He recently announced a revised top schools list that included Clemson and FSU along with NC State, Ohio State and South Carolina.

Sampson is ranked as high as the No. 2 prospect in North Carolina, No. 16 defensive lineman nationally and No. 130 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports.

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4-star North Carolina DL looking forward to building more rapport with Clemson’s staff after visit

Clemson made another major impression this weekend on one of its top targets in the 2023 recruiting class. New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star defensive lineman Keith “KJ” Sampson, Jr. was back on campus for Clemson’s Elite Junior Day Saturday and …

Clemson made another major impression this weekend on one of its top targets in the 2023 recruiting class.

New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star defensive lineman Keith “KJ” Sampson, Jr. was back on campus for Clemson’s Elite Junior Day Saturday and thoroughly enjoyed his visit. It was his first time back in The Valley since the Tigers extended a scholarship offer back on Tuesday, Jan. 4.

“I had a great time,” Sampson told The Clemson Insider. “Enjoyed the visit and look to continue to build more rapport with the coaches at Clemson.”

On his visit, he had an opportunity to bond with both Lemanski Hall and Nick Eason. 

Hall, Clemson’s defensive ends coach, has spearheaded Sampson’s recruitment from the getgo and stopped by New Bern High School Friday. As for Eason, he never offered Sampson, while he was at Auburn, but has already played a significant role in his recruitment.

Saturday marked the first time that Sampson was able to meet Eason face-to-face, but they had been talking on the phone with one another. They even bonded over their shared love of music.

“We both love quartet music and we both have a musical background, so that was plus, right off the gate,” Sampson said of Eason. “But, he is a good man, just from what I have seen in person.”

What was the staff’s overall message to him?

“Just to keep working,” he said.

Sampson recently dropped his final five schools on social media a little over two weeks ago. He’s down to Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, South Carolina and N.C. State. Though, there are still some teams outside his top-5 that are looking like they could be in the mix. North Carolina stopped by his high school this past Thursday and he picked up an offer from Notre Dame a little over a week ago.

Saturday’s visit to Clemson only further put things into perspective for Sampson. The Tigers already held a good spot with him, after entering the mix earlier this month with an offer.

“It’s really high,” he said of where Clemson stands with him. “I will say that.”

Sampson, who 247Sports ranks as the nation’s No. 20 defensive lineman and No. 143 overall prospect in the 2023 class, told us that he plans on returning to Clemson in the near future for another visit, potentially this spring.

He is not close to making a decision, though, as he intends to make his commitment sometime during his senior season.

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Notre Dame offers interesting 2023 athlete from North Carolina

Could his Top-5 be changing soon?

It seems like Marcus Freeman is using the Notre Dame national recruiting pull to his advantage. The Irish are one of a few schools around the nation that doesn’t just recruit regionally, they have the reach all across the country.

Freeman once again used this clout as he went out to North Carolina and offered Keith Sampson Jr. a scholarship this evening. At six-foot-four-inches and 285-pounds, the Tar Heel State star plays on both sides of the ball, as a defensive tackle and tight end. Sampson Jr. must be one impressive athlete if he’s playing tight end at that size.

Just this past week, Sampson Jr. dropped his top five schools: Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, South Carolina and North Carolina State, but in his tweet made it clear that his recruitment was still open. Hopefully the Irish offer gives this impressive athlete something to think about.

Clemson in final 5 for 4-star North Carolina DL

A Tar Heel State defensive lineman, who recently picked up a Clemson offer, dropped his final five schools on Saturday afternoon via social media. New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star Keith Sampson, Jr. is down to Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, …

A Tar Heel State defensive lineman, who recently picked up a Clemson offer, dropped his final five schools on Saturday afternoon via social media.

New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star Keith Sampson, Jr. is down to Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia, South Carolina and N.C. State.

Sampson (6-4, 285) is ranked by 247Sports as the nation’s No. 20 defensive lineman and No. 143 overall prospect in the 2023 class.

The offer he had been waiting for, finally came on Tuesday, Jan. 4, when Sampson was informed of his offer during a FaceTime call with Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and co-defensive coordinator Mickey Conn.

“I knew it was coming eventually, I just didn’t know when it was coming because I knew that their recruiting process was slower, and Coach Hall just kept telling me to be patient,” Sampson told The Clemson Insider shortly after receiving the offer. “So, it was just one of those things. It was a surprise, but at the same time, you knew that was coming.”

With an offer from the Tigers now in tow, Sampson will travel to Clemson for its elite junior day on Jan. 29. He is also slated to visit South Carolina on Jan. 15 and N.C. State on Jan. 22.

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Visit from Clemson coach ‘really cool’ for 4-star North Carolina DL

While out and about on the recruiting trail last week, one of the stops made by Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall was to check in on a class of 2023 defensive lineman from the Tar Heel State with close to two dozen scholarship offers. New …

While out and about on the recruiting trail last week, one of the stops made by Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall was to check in on a class of 2023 defensive lineman from the Tar Heel State with close to two dozen scholarship offers.

New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star Keith Sampson Jr. drew a school visit from Hall on Thursday.

“It was really cool just to see that he went out of his way to come see me,” Sampson said to The Clemson Insider. “My coach told me he was in Alabama, I want to say, literally the day before, and he hopped on the plane and came to my school.”

Sampson (6-4, 285) couldn’t speak with Hall directly at the school due to NCAA rules, but Hall conveyed a message to Sampson through Sampson’s coach.

“He was just telling me to keep working, and that they watched my film and will be talking to me in a couple of days about hopefully offering me,” Sampson said. “But we’ll see how that goes.”

Sampson, a junior, lists offers from Alabama, Georgia, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Penn State, Michigan, NC State, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and Florida State among numerous others.

While the Tigers have not offered Sampson to date, they continue to show interest, and he has been staying in contact with Hall as well as defensive tackles coach Todd Bates. Clemson is recruiting him as a D-tackle.

“I would say it’s been like every week or every other week, I would say,” Sampson said of how often he hears from the coaches.

Sampson feels his relationship with Hall and Bates is a growing one.

“It’s still new, but at the same time it’s not,” he said. “It’s like in the middle stage.”

Sampson attended the season opener between Clemson and Georgia in Charlotte and also made game visits this season to NC State, North Carolina, Ohio State and East Carolina. He most recently visited Clemson this past June and has also participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp in the past.

Sampson isn’t sure when he might make it back to Clemson but intends to return to Tiger Town at some point moving forward.

“I don’t know, but I do plan to come back up there,” he said.

Sampson hopes to add Clemson to the extensive offer list he has already compiled.

“It would be pretty cool just to see if I can get an offer from them because Clemson has always been a good school,” he said. “They’ve had a down year, but they bounce back. So, it would be pretty cool just to see if I can get an offer from them.”

Sampson is ranked as high as the No. 144 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports, which considers him the No. 20 defensive lineman in the class. He suffered an injury during his junior season this year, fracturing the scaphoid bone in his wrist, and has a cast on it right now but expects to get it off in January.

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4-star defensive lineman gets a visit from Hall

A Clemson assistant coach made a stop in North Carolina on Thursday as the Tigers have spent their week hitting the recruiting trail. The Clemson Insider confirmed that defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall paid a visit to New Bern (N.C.) High School …

A Clemson assistant coach made a stop in North Carolina on Thursday as the Tigers have spent their week hitting the recruiting trail.

The Clemson Insider confirmed that defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall paid a visit to New Bern (N.C.) High School to meet with the school’s coaches regarding Keith “K.J.” Sampson, Jr., a four-star defensive lineman in the 2023 class.

Sampson (6-4, 285) has a strong bond with Hall and Clemson defensive tackles coach Todd Bates.

“I’ve been talking a lot with Coach Lemanski Hall and Coach Bates,” Sampson told TCI back in August. “It’s a good building relationship with Coach Hall. I’m just still getting to know Coach Bates, but I feel like I have a really good relationship with Coach Hall because that’s who I am in contact with the most from Clemson.”

“I feel like they’re really good people,” Sampson added. “Coach Hall, Coach Bates, they’re really good people for sure. When I went to visit, it was just nothing but love from them.”

Sampson is ranked as high as the No. 20 defensive lineman and No. 144 overall prospect in the country in the 2023 recruiting class by 247Sports.

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Tigers ‘showing a lot of love’ to 4-star North Carolina D-lineman

A highly regarded defensive lineman in the 2023 class has been feeling the love from Clemson. New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star defensive tackle Keith Sampson Jr. has camped at the Dabo Swinney Camp in the past and returned to campus for an …

A highly regarded defensive lineman in the 2023 class has been feeling the love from Clemson.

New Bern (N.C.) High School four-star defensive tackle Keith Sampson Jr. has camped at the Dabo Swinney Camp in the past and returned to campus for an unofficial visit in July.

The 6-foot-4, 285-pound junior has a strong bond with Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall, while Sampson is starting to establish a relationship with defensive tackles coach Todd Bates as well.

“I’ve been talking a lot with Coach Lemanski Hall and Coach Bates,” Sampson told The Clemson Insider recently. “It’s a good building relationship with Coach Hall. I’m just still getting to know Coach Bates, but I feel like I have a really good relationship with Coach Hall because that’s who I am in contact with the most from Clemson.”

“I feel like they’re really good people,” Sampson added. “Coach Hall, Coach Bates, they’re really good people for sure. When I went to visit, it was just nothing but love from them.”

Sampson, who lists more than 15 scholarship offers, feels Clemson is among the schools involved in his recruitment that are showing the most interest at this point in his recruiting process despite the fact the Tigers haven’t offered him just yet.

“Definitely Ohio State and Alabama, South Carolina. Even though I don’t have an offer from Clemson, they’re showing a lot of love,” he said. “Duke, Virginia, Virginia Tech, Coastal Carolina. Those are like the main schools that are really showing a lot of love right now.”

What message are the Tigers conveying to Sampson at this stage of his recruitment?

“Just to keep working, don’t get satisfied,” he said. “Coach Hall says he really likes me because he sees that I’m still working. Even though I have all these offers and I get all this attention, he said I’m still able to work and I’m still able to be a leader and I’m trying to help guys in my community get offers as well.”

Academics are an important factor for Sampson as he goes through the process and evaluates different schools, and it was the academic side of things that stood out to him during his visit to Clemson this summer.

“I would definitely say like the academic portion of it, meeting with the academic advisors,” he said. “It was just a lot of things that I liked about it.”

Some of the other schools Sampson visited this summer include Ohio State, Alabama, South Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. He plans to get back to Clemson for a game this season and is already lining up several other game-day visits as well.

“I plan to go see South Carolina and Georgia play (in Athens), South Carolina versus Clemson (in Columbia), Ohio State versus Penn State (in Columbus),” he said. “I’m going to an Alabama game, I just don’t know what Bama game I want to go to yet.”

Sampson said he is looking to make a commitment decision sometime before his senior season in 2022 or at some point during his senior season. As he continues to build upon his relationships with Hall and Bates, he hopes to see the Tigers come into the mix with an offer moving forward.

“It would mean a lot,” he said. “I would just still be trying to get to know the coaches a little bit more. Just overall, just trying to make the right decision for me.”

Sampson is ranked as a top-250 national prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports (No. 171), ESPN (No. 182) and Rivals (No. 250). Rivals considers him the No. 10 defensive tackle in the country for his class.

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4-star North Carolina defensive lineman has ‘great time’ at Clemson

Clemson has been showing interest in this four-star defensive lineman, who was finally able to make his way back on campus Friday. New Bern (N.C.) 2023 DL Keith Sampson, Jr. took in Tiger Town and was shown around by Clemson defensive tackles coach …

Clemson has been showing interest in this four-star defensive lineman, who was finally able to make his way back on campus Friday.

New Bern (N.C.) 2023 DL Keith Sampson, Jr. took in Tiger Town and was shown around by Clemson defensive tackles coach Todd Bates, defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall and defensive player development coach Miguel Chavis.

He caught up with The Clemson Insider regarding his experience.

“The visit was really good,” Sampson told TCI. “I had a great time just getting to meet the coaches. I would say my favorite part about the visit was P.A.W. Journey, just because it was something different.”

This wasn’t Sampson’s first experience at Clemson. He’s camped at Dabo Swinney Camp in the past and had an opportunity to be coached by Clemson legend Da’Quan Bowers, who is now the defensive line coach at USF.

This time around, Sampson didn’t hear much from Clemson’s coaching staff about recruiting. This was more of a get-to-know-you type visit.

“We didn’t talk football a lot, this visit was more like an introduction, but they did tell me that they like my effort on the field and the fact that I am a leader and I’m always working, Sampson said.

Clemson’s relationship with Sampson is only beginning, but the Tigers have already made him feel at home.

“It’s still new, but at the same time, they made it seem like we have known each other for years,” he said.

Sampson has that quickness and level of versatility that’s often coveted at the next level.

“I would definitely say that I am not your average D-lineman,” he said. “I feel like my IQ is better. I am adaptable and I can play multiple positions.

“I have a quick twitch, so I feel like I get off the ball [quicker] than O-lineman most of the time and my hands are good and my speed,” Sampson added.

While his playstyle would certainly fit in at Clemson, what is Sampson looking for in a school at the next level?

“There has to be a brotherhood,” Sampson said. “I wanna make sure they have a good academic program for what I want to study and I want to have a good relationship with the players because they are who I will be with most of the time.”

Clemson can certainly hang its hat on the brotherhood within the confines of its locker room.

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