Vols’ targets score touchdowns for Webb

Tennessee targets score touchdowns for Webb.

Two Tennessee football recruiting targets led Webb School of Knoxville to a victory against Boyd Buchanan (Chattanooga, Tennessee).

Wide receivers Shavar Young Jr. and Markeis Barrett each scored touchdowns as the Spartans (8-0, 5-0 Division II-AA East) defeated Boyd Buchanan, 42-7, at David Meske Stadium in Knoxville Friday.

Young, a freshman who started as an eighth grader at Webb last season, recorded three receptions for 74 yards and one touchdown. Barrett, a junior, recorded two receptions for 47 yards and one touchdown against the Buccaneers.

Young has offers from Tennessee, Kentucky, Ole Miss, Vanderbilt and Tulane.

Barrett has offers from Arkansas, Austin Peay, Boston College, Campbell, Charlotte, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall, Miami University, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Clemson.

Webb will conclude its regular season Friday at home against Chattanooga Christian School (8-1, 5-0).

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4-star athlete ‘loved’ Clemson visit, felt the love from Tigers

A standout athlete from the Volunteer State returned to Tiger Town for the Louisana Tech game this past weekend. Webb School of Knoxville’s Markeis Barrett – a four-star athlete in the class of 2024 who holds SEC offers from programs like Tennessee, …

A standout athlete from the Volunteer State returned to Tiger Town for the Louisana Tech game this past weekend.

Webb School of Knoxville’s Markeis Barrett — a four-star athlete in the class of 2024 who holds SEC offers from programs like Tennessee, Vanderbilt and Arkansas — was back on campus last Saturday after competing at the Dabo Swinney Camp in June.

“It was pretty good. I loved it,” Barrett told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Monday night. “This time, I felt like they showed more love towards me since now that they’re recruiting me more. The last time, (Barrett was in attendance for Clemson’s win over Florida State on Oct. 30, 2021) I was a little bit younger. Now that I’m a junior, I feel like they showed more love.”

Not only that, but the atmosphere definitely jumped out at Barrett, who feels like he truly got to experience a Clemson gameday this time around. When he visited for the Florida State game last season, there were still limitations on the overall experience due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

“The fans stood out to me and the atmosphere was amazing,” Barrett said. “Running down the hill, being up there at the top, that really stood out to me; like the energy was different when they ran out. That stood out to me. The fans was going crazy, everything was just different.”

Beyond the atmosphere, Barrett appreciated having a chance to speak directly with Tyler Grisham before and after the game. 

“What I got to hear from him is where I’m at in recruiting,” Barrett said regarding Clemson’s wide receivers coach’s message to him. “He was like, I’m high on their board, but he’s only offered one slot. So, we’ll see. I gotta do my part. I just gotta go get it. Just try to go get the (offer).”

Grisham reached out to Barrett on Sept. 1 and there’s been a lot of direct contact between the two parties. It’s been nearly three weeks and Barrett admitted that his relationship with Clemson’s receivers coach has gotten way better since assistant coaches like Grisham could directly contact prospects in the class of 2024.

It’s fair to say that Clemson’s interest in Barrett is genuine at this point in time.

“It definitely feels pretty good, man,” he said. “It definitely motivates me to keep getting better and also putting more stuff on film, so I could potentially get that offer. That’s a school that I would want to go to. It means a lot to me that they’re recruiting me.” 

Barrett also had a chance to speak with the assistant director of football operations, Jody Evans, who he said is the recruiter for his area. Evans, who was Clemson coach Dabo Swinney’s roommate at the University of Alabama, was Barrett’s first contact at Clemson and helped introduce him to Grisham.

“I got a better relationship with both of them now,” he said. 

Barrett hopes to see both Grisham and Evans again when he visits for Clemson’s Nov. 12 matchup against Louisville at Memorial Stadium. That’s currently the plan for Barrett, but he also could foresee going to another night game instead. 

As far as other gameday visits go, Barrett said that he thinks he’s gonna pay visits to Kentucky, Tennessee, Mizzou, USC, Vanderbilt, Boston College and Arkansas. Before his Clemson visit this past Saturday, Barrett visited both Georgia and Vanderbilt.

Another thing that Barrett mentioned towards the end of his conversation with The Clemson Insider, is that he got a pair of gloves from Will Shipley when the sophomore running back was running out for Saturday’s game.

“He told me to do something special with them,” Barrett recalled.

There’s no question about it. This Friday night, Barrett will be rocking those all-white gloves.

Barrett (6-1, 175) is considered by 247Sports to be the nation’s No. 42 ranked athlete and No. 4 prospect in the 2024 class from the state of Tennessee.

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4-star Tennessee athlete high on Clemson, hoping to hear from Tigers

Markeis Barrett hasn’t heard from Clemson since he participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp earlier this summer, but the 2024 four-star athlete out of the Webb School of Knoxville in Tennessee understands that the Tigers are big on relationships. He …

Markeis Barrett hasn’t heard from Clemson since he participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp earlier this summer, but the 2024 four-star athlete out of the Webb School of Knoxville in Tennessee understands that the Tigers are big on relationships. 

He mentioned how when he posts something on Twitter, assistant director of football operations, Jody Evans, will favorite his tweets. The other day, Barrett received a questionnaire from one of Clemson’s recruiting numbers, so he could fill out his information ahead of this Thursday, Sept. 1.

Barrett feels like Clemson will “definitely” reach out in the coming days and is hopeful to be back in contact with wide receivers coach, Tyler Grisham, again

“That would be big,” Barrett told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview last week. “That’s a school I want to hear from.”

Barrett has gotten off to a hot start to his junior campaign. In Week 1, he had over 100 yards receiving and a touchdown in a 46-21 win over Strawberry Plains (Tennessee) Carter High School. He followed up that performance with three receptions for 92 yards with two touchdowns and an interception in a 52-7 win over Corryton (Tenn.) Gibbs High School this past Friday.

Barrett admitted that he’ll have to take his game up a notch this season with opposing teams already keying on him. While that will allow for some of his other teammates to get touches, he has nearly 200 yards receiving and three touchdowns in his first two games.

“It ended up turning out pretty good,” Barrett said of his Week 1 performance. “With me playing both sides of the ball, it was tough, but I ended up getting through it. I’m more of an offensive type of guy and I play defense too in high school. Playing both sides of the ball can be pretty tiring, but I gotta play because we gotta win.”

Most college teams that are showing interest in Barrett are looking for the talented athlete to play the wide receiver position at the next level. He offered some perspective on how playing both receiver and defensive back can help him elevate his game.

“It helps me because when I’m playing defense we’re playing a lot of coverage and stuff like that, right?” he explained. “So, when I’m playing receiver, I like to see what coverage they’re in and whatever coverage they’re in, I adjust my routes. If they’re playing a seam, I try to find an open space. If they’re in cover 3, I try to make it to where the safety can’t get to me because I play the slot.”

Before the start of his junior campaign, Barrett added Power Five offers from Boston College and Tennessee. He also added offers from Austin Peay and Campbell University to his growing list, which includes schools like Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, Marshall, Miami (OH) and Vanderbilt.

Barrett will be in Vanderbilt twice this season, when the Commodores host No. 22 Wake Forest on Sept. 10 and the University of Tennessee on Nov. 26. He’ll also try to go see the Vols in Knoxville and check out an Austin Peay game as well.

He’s also hoping that after Sept. 1, he can set up a game day visit with Clemson’s coaching staff. He attended Clemson’s 30-20 win over Florida State last season and enjoyed everything that Memorial Stadium and the surrounding atmosphere had to offer.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” he said of last season’s Clemson visit. “It was everything that I thought it would be. The fans are crazy. The energy was crazy. The coaching staff is great. I got to see their warmups and how they coach their players. It was amazing. It’s something I want to be a part of.”

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4-star Volunteer State athlete looking forward to building relationship with Grisham, Clemson

Among the standout wide receivers who had the chance to showcase their talent on the second day of Dabo Swinney on June 2 was Markeis Barrett – a 6-foot-1, 170-pound four-star rising junior from the Webb School of Knoxville in Tennessee. “It was …

Among the standout wide receivers who had the chance to showcase their talent on the second day of Dabo Swinney on June 2 was Markeis Barrett — a 6-foot-1, 170-pound four-star rising junior from the Webb School of Knoxville in Tennessee.

“It was good,” Barrett told The Clemson Insider regarding his Swinney Camp experience. “I loved it. I liked it because it was more of a learning experience and they weren’t focused on the combine or stuff like that. They just really wanted to get some good work in.”

What type of feedback did he receive from Clemson’s coaching staff?

“I learned from Coach Grisham and also Coach Dabo,” Barrett said. “They taught me when I’m in my receiver stance to get lower and also have my front foot pointed forward instead of being curved in.”

For Clemson’s head coach to give him receiving tips, meant a lot to Barrett.

“I like Coach Dabo,” he added. “I learned a lot from him. When I caught the ball, he told me to keep it in the hand that I catch it with. Say you run a slant and you catch it on the inside, you’ll keep it on your left, instead of putting it back on your right.”

After he camped, Barrett was shown around campus and had the chance to meet a lot of Clemson’s coaching staff. He had the opportunity to speak with both Swinney and Grisham after the camp concluded for the day.

“I think he’s a good coach,” Barrett said of Clemson’s wide receivers coach. “He’s definitely somebody I’d want to play for.”

At the time of our conversation with Barrett, Clemson had yet to offer any class of 2024 wide receivers. The Tigers have since offered both Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.) four-star Alex Taylor and Cummings (Burlington, N.C.) four-star Jonathan Paylor.

According to Barrett, Grisham told him that an offer was “definitely a possibility.” At the same time, Barrett felt like he improved his case and showed that he was an offer-worthy candidate when he worked out for Clemson’s receivers coach.

“I think that would be big,” he said regarding a potential offer from the Tigers. “That’s most definitely a place I’m shooting to get an offer from.”

When he camped at Clemson, Barrett was joined by Brandon Winton, Jr. — a 6-foot-1, 195-pound three-star rising junior from Bradenton’s (Fla.) IMG Academy. Barrett and Winton are former teammates and best friends. They’re helping each other throughout the recruiting process and have gone on several visits with each other this summer already.

“It was amazing,” Barrett said regarding visiting Clemson with Winton, “because that’s a school that we like a lot. It was pretty cool to go with him and have him right up there with me. I feel like we both feel the same way about Clemson.”

After camping at Clemson, Barrett was planning to camp at the University of North Carolina and Alabama. He also had visits planned for Virginia Tech and Cincinnati.

Barrett would like to get back to Tiger Town in the near future. He’d also like to keep building a relationship with Grisham, as well as the remainder of Clemson’s coaching staff.

Barrett ranks as high as the nation’s No. 33 athlete and No. 3 prospect in the state of Tennessee for his class, per 247Sports.

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Volunteer State athlete with connection to Tigers, ‘can’t wait’ to camp at Clemson

The Clemson Insider recently caught up with a fast-rising Volunteer State athlete, who told us that Clemson wants him to come up for camp this summer, as the Tigers have talked multiple times with his coaches. Clemson started reaching out to Webb …

The Clemson Insider recently caught up with a fast-rising Volunteer State athlete, who told us that Clemson wants him to come up for camp this summer, as the Tigers have talked multiple times with his coaches.

Clemson started reaching out to Webb School of Knoxville (Tenn.) four-star athlete Markeis Barrett’s coaches at the end of his sophomore season.

“They want me to come down, so they can show me around their facilities and also their campus,” Barrett said. “I am also going to camp there (this summer). From what my coaches told me, is that they want to build a good relationship with me throughout their recruiting process with me and also they want me to come down as much as I can.”

With that, Barrett will participate in the Dabo Swinney Camp on June 2.

“I’m ready to camp,” he continued. “I can’t wait to camp at Clemson.”

This won’t be Barrett’s first visit to Tiger Town. He made a game-day visit last season and was in attendance for Clemson’s 30-20 win over Florida State on Oct. 30, 2021.

“I enjoyed the atmosphere and I got to talk to Coach Dabo Swinney,” Barrett said. “That was amazing. It was like a dream come true.”

Barrett chatted with Tyler Grisham for a little bit there, but Clemson’s wide receivers coach had to obviously prepare for the game. Getting to camp at Clemson this summer will allow Barett to further build his relationship with Grisham.

“That makes me want to play receiver there,” he said regarding receiving interest from WRU.

While Barrett is listed as an athlete on every major recruiting service and plays both sides of the football for the Webb School, he imagines that he’ll likely work out at the receiver position at most camps, including Clemson, this summer.

While Barrett will play wherever a school at the next level envisions him, his preference would be to play the wide receiver or slot.

If Barrett can earn an offer from a school like Clemson, he didn’t hesitate to say that the Tigers would immediately earn a spot at the top of his recruitment.

“When it’s all said and done, they would be in my top three,” he said. “If they offer me, then it’s gonna be like they fully want me because they don’t offer a lot like that.”

In addition to Clemson, Barrett mentioned programs like Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, LSU and Colorado as the schools currently recruiting him the hardest. He plans to camp at Virginia Virginia Tech, Cincinnati, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and maybe Arkansas and Kentucky.

Right now, Barrett is ready for things to pick back up after he participates in some camps this summer. It’s only a matter of time before things start to heat up for Barrett, who currently holds offers from schools like Arkansas, Marshall, Vanderbilt and Eastern Kentucky.

Last season, Barrett played more outside receiver for the Webb School but has since transitioned to the slot. He also plays defensive back and the plan is for him to play both sides of the football again during his junior campaign.

“I’m explosive, I’m fast, I can make plays on both sides of the ball,” Barrett said when asked to describe himself as a player. “I’m quick and I’m shifty.”

He likes to watch former Clemson and current Green Bay Packers wide receiver, Amari Rodgers, who is from the same hometown as Barrett. Rodgers is someone that Barrett looks up to and he’s often raved about Clemson and the relationships and atmosphere, as well as the education that the program provides.

“I talk to him a lot,” Barrett said. “He tells me what I need to do, what I don’t need to do. This summer, I look forward to working with him when he comes back.”

Barrett (6-1, 170) ranks as the No. 33 athlete and No. 3 prospect in the state of Tennessee for his class, per 247Sports.

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The Insider Report: Latest on a top Texas QB, elite OL, nation’s No. 1 LB & more

It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report. We hope everyone had a great weekend. Lone Star State gunslinger getting a lot of attention from Tigers After Dylan Raiola committed to Ohio State last week, Clemson’s quarterback recruiting …

It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.

We hope everyone had a great weekend.

Lone Star State gunslinger getting a lot of attention from Tigers

After Dylan Raiola committed to Ohio State last week, Clemson’s quarterback recruiting board has started to take shape. It’s reasonable to assume that Clemson has since shifted its focus to Willis (Texas) four-star DJ Lagway.

Of course, the Tigers have shown or expressed interest in other 2024 QB prospects like Jadyn Davis, Dante Reno, Daniel Kaelin, James Resar and Jake Merklinger — to name a few — but the attention has begun to shift in Lagway’s direction.

We first identified Lagway as a potential target for Clemson dating back to February. Since then, he made a largely anticipated unofficial visit to campus, while Clemson offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter has now made multiple trips to see the Lone Star State gunslinger in the month of May alone.

“They want me to get up there this summer and camp and stuff like that,” Lagway recently told The Clemson Insider. “Coach Streeter came out to one of my spring practices. He said he was very impressed. I’ve been talking to Coach (Dabo) Swinney a lot, almost two times a week. We talk a lot, me and Coach Swinney.”

The fact that Lagway gets to talk pretty frequently with Clemson’s head coach isn’t something he takes lightly. Lagway told us that he feels like the Tigers have made him a priority in their 2024 recruiting class and that he’s one of their top guys in their class.

“That shows that they’re very interested in me and that they’re very high on my list,” he said, “because the interest level has been there from the beginning. That’s a big part in my recruitment.”

Lagway indicated that a scholarship offer from Clemson could come when he visits campus next month. He’s had those conversations about a potential offer dating back to when he visited last month.

“That was a conversation we had from the very beginning since I got there when I got down there on campus when I went to Coach Swinney’s house,” Lagway said. “It’s just the way they run things, they just want to keep the process smooth and keep the way they’ve been doing things.”

“That would be huge,” he continued. “That would be a blessing to have an offer from Clemson and all that good stuff. It would change a lot with my top five.”

Some names to know ahead of Swinney Camp

TCI wanted to pass along some names that we’re tracking ahead of next month’s Dabo Swinney Camp.

While we’ll introduce some new information about some other rising juniors like Kam Pringle and Sammy Brown in this week’s edition of the Insider Report, the names that follow are important ones to know when Clemson starts dishing out offers come June 1.

Those names include — St. Thomas Aquinas (Fort Lauderdale, Fla.) four-star wide receiver Chance Robinson, Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.) four-star WR Alex Taylor and Webb School of Knoxville (Tenn.) four-star athlete Markeis Barrett.

While Robinson hasn’t talked to anyone from Clemson, the Tigers reached out to his head coach and sent him a message saying that they want him to come up and do a workout with them.

Clemson wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham also followed him on Twitter not too long ago.

Robinson said that he’ll likely camp at Clemson next month and show them what he’s capable of. Robinson (6-1, 180) ranks as the No. 12 wide receiver and the nation’s No. 76 overall prospect in the 2024 recruiting class, per the 247Sports Composite Rankings.

As for Taylor, he’s kept in pretty consistent contact with Grisham since he unofficially visited Clemson back in March. Taylor is unsure when he’ll return to Clemson, but he’s been chatting with Clemson’s receivers coach about returning for camp this summer. While nothing is set in stone, June 11 is certainly a date worth keeping in mind.

Rivals considers Taylor (6-3, 175) as the No. 33 receiver and the No. 204 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2024.

Last but certainly not least is Barrett, who told us that Clemson wants him to come up for camp this summer, as the Tigers have talked multiple times with his coaches.

“They want me to come down, so they can show me around their facilities and also their campus,” Barrett said. “I am also going to camp there (this summer). From what my coaches told me, is that they want to build a good relationship with me throughout their recruiting process with me and also they want me to come down as much as I can.”

Barrett (6-1, 170) ranks as the No. 33 athlete and No. 3 prospect in the state of Tennessee for his class.

Fast-rising Alabama receiver planning to camp at Clemson

A fast-rising wide receiver from the state of Alabama is planning to visit Clemson in June, in hopes that he can earn an offer from the Tigers.

“I’m going to camp either June 1st or 2nd and see if I pull the offer,” Dozier told The Clemson Insider via text message.

Moody (Ala.) 2023 three-star Davion Dozier is in constant contact with Grisham and is focusing on building a relationship with Clemson’s wide receivers coach.

Clemson’s history at the receiver position is intriguing to Dozier, who describes himself as a big target, who can go up and get the ball and make all the necessary plays.

“He told me that he loves everything,” Dozier said of Grisham. “He told me that he’s been keeping track since my sophomore year. That’s when he first started and he told me that I’m getting bigger and better.”

The latest on Clemson and nation’s No. 1 LB

TCI recently checked back in with the nation’s top-ranked linebacker in the 2024 class to get an update on his recruitment and where things stand with Clemson.

Jefferson (Ga.) five-star Sammy Brown – the No. 1 linebacker in his class, per multiple recruiting services – is one of just two prospects in his class to have earned an offer from the Tigers to date.

Brown (6-2, 220) picked up the offer while on a March 12 visit to Clemson, then returned to campus on April 6 to take in the Tigers’ final spring practice prior to the April 9 spring game.

After the aforementioned practice, Brown had dinner with defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Wes Goodwin, and the two continue to stay in touch every week or so through Brown’s father, Michael, who is the associate head football coach at Jefferson.

Goodwin and co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach Mickey Conn stopped by Jefferson to check in on Brown during the current spring evaluation period and went to one of his weight training periods. Brown told TCI that “it was a pretty big honor” that the coaches came by to see him work out when they could have been anywhere else in the country.

At the time TCI spoke with Brown, he hadn’t been able to sit down and look at his summer schedule, but said Clemson “is a place that we definitely want to get back to this summer.”

Brown, who boasts around two dozen offers, cited Clemson as one of the schools recruiting him the hardest at this point in the process along with Georgia, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

As for where Clemson currently stands with the coveted linebacker, Brown said he really likes Clemson, its culture and “what they’re doing and have done.”

“It’s one of the more elite colleges in football right now,” he added.

Update on elite 2024 OL Kam Pringle

TCI also recently caught up with another elite prospect in the 2024 class – Woodland High School (Dorchester, S.C.) four-star offensive lineman Kam Pringle, who is ranked as the No. 2 offensive tackle in the country for his class according to both Rivals and the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Clemson stopped by Pringle’s school earlier this year, and he has been communicating periodically with offensive line coach Thomas Austin, who told Pringle that he’s making plans to travel to Woodland and see Pringle at some point during his team’s spring practices that are getting underway this week.

Pringle (6-7, 315) told TCI that his relationship with Austin has “been growing” and he appreciates the transparency that Austin has with him during their conversations.

“Every time we talk, he tries to make sure I feel as if he’s keeping it real and not changing how things are or portraying it to be something else,” Pringle said. “So, he tries to be straightforward and as transparent as possible.”

Pringle most recently visited Clemson on March 12 and said that while he doubts he’ll compete at the Dabo Swinney Camp again in June (he camped last summer), he’ll likely return to campus for another visit this summer.

Pringle, who has picked up around two dozen offers, named Auburn, Georgia, Alabama, LSU, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio State, Michigan State and Florida as some of the schools he feels are coming after him the hardest right now.

As of now, Pringle said, he expects to be committed to a school before his senior year and is thinking he’ll make a decision in January or sometime at the beginning of 2023.

Clemson hasn’t yet offered Pringle, or any other offensive lineman in the 2024 class for that matter, but Pringle told us the Tigers are “definitely” one of his top 10 schools right now.

Congratulations! You did it! You graduated! Now is the time to preserve your diploma in a custom frame. Here at Clemson Variety & Frame, we build all our frames in-house – from the frame to the mats and etchings to the installation – to guarantee the quality. You worked hard for your degree. Trust us to show your diploma in the best light possible.