Tag: Misun Kelley

Clemson recently played host to a standout local prospect in the 2023 class who has seen interest from the Tigers ramp up of late.

Daniel High School (Central, S.C.) cornerback Misun Kelley returned to campus as an unofficial visitor for the Tigers’ “spring elite day” – their second junior day of the year – on Saturday, March 5.

Kelley, who also made a couple of unofficial visits to Clemson on game days last season after competing at the Dabo Swinney Camp last summer, came away impressed after his latest experience around Swinney’s program.

“I enjoyed it a lot,” Kelley said to The Clemson Insider. “I got to talk to the coaches a lot. I like how Dabo runs things there. He runs it in like a special, unique way instead of just how everybody else runs it. You can tell it’s just different.”

Kelley (5-11.5, 175) had the chance to speak a little bit with Swinney, who let Kelley know that he has been keeping tabs on him.

“He just told me to keep working, how he’s always staying in touch with me,” Kelley said of what he heard the Tigers’ head coach. “Just keep working, keep grinding.”

While on campus, of all the coaches, Kelley spent the most time with Mike Reed.

“It wasn’t really about football, honestly,” Kelley said of his conversations with Clemson’s cornerbacks coach. “He was just talking to me about how he wants his players to be as people instead of only as football players. He talked about how they like to run defense or how he likes his corners to play, like he likes his corners to tackle and stuff.”

Kelley was accompanied on the visit by a couple of friends along with family members, including his mother, who was impressed by the visit as well.

“My mom was like how she loved how they run things, how they actually care about players instead of just offering people (based on their) skill set,” Kelley said. “A lot of schools offer people just for like how good they are, they don’t really care about them as people.”

The highlight of the visit experience for Kelley was the photoshoot, during which he and other recruits got to take pictures in Clemson uniforms.

“It’s just crazy to me kind of because I live right down the road, and I’ve always dreamed of putting the uniforms on,” he said.

Asked what it would mean to him to receive an offer from Clemson – and have the chance to actually suit up for the Tigers on the field in the future – the talented local corner couldn’t put it into words.

“Words probably couldn’t even explain how I’d feel. I think I’d feel so elated,” he said. “I can’t even explain into words how crazy and amazing that would be.”

Kelley visited Georgia Tech on March 12 and is planning to visit schools such as East Carolina, Houston and Coastal Carolina.

East Carolina and Coastal Carolina have offered Kelley, along with Louisville, Appalachian State, Liberty, Middle Tennessee, Georgia State, Old Dominion and James Madison.

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Clemson, of course, has close ties to the Daniel High School football program, with the local school in Central, S.C., producing plenty of Tigers over the years.

Another standout player from Daniel on Clemson’s recruiting radar is Misun Kelley, a 5-foot-11, 170-pound cornerback prospect in the class of 2023 with a half-dozen offers under his belt.

Clemson is showing interest in Kelley, and an offer from the Tigers is certainly one he has dreamed about getting.

“Clemson has been like my dream school,” he told The Clemson Insider recently. “I’ve always been a Clemson fan.”

Kelley made a couple of unofficial visits to Clemson during the season, the second of which was for the Florida State game in late October.

While on campus in the fall, Kelley was able to spend time with cornerbacks coach Mike Reed, who has indicated to Kelley that an offer from the Tigers could be in the cards for him.

“He was just saying stuff like it’s coming, I guess my offer’s coming,” Kelley recalled of what he heard from Reed.

“He was like making jokes and stuff,” Kelley added. “He’s a pretty fun person. He’s just a pretty funny coach. I don’t really like coaches who can’t make jokes and they’re just all serious the whole entire time. But you can just joke around with him and you know when he’s serious or not, too.”

Kelley also had the chance to work out with Reed when he camped at Clemson last summer. He impressed with his performance at the Dabo Swinney Camp and received positive feedback from Reed as well as Swinney, who is familiar with Kelley as a player, considering Swinney was able to observe him while attending Daniel’s games to watch his youngest son, Clay.

“I’m down the road, so it kind of helps me out,” Kelley said. “Because Coach Swinney’s son played on my team, so it helps me out because Coach Swinney comes and watches me play every Friday. But Clay graduated this year, so I won’t have that next year. But they were just talking about how they like the way I play and stuff.”

In addition to playing in the secondary, Kelley saw action at receiver and running back for Daniel this past season.

“I only played like seven games of offense and I had like 750 yards and 12 TDs, I think,” he said. “And I played running back some, too, and I helped them on the defensive side of the ball, too.”

Louisville, Coastal Carolina, Appalachian State, East Carolina, Middle Tennessee and Liberty have all offered Kelley.

Kelley knows how judicious Swinney and the Tigers are with the offers they dispense, but that’s something he appreciates the most when he thinks about the program.

“Just how Coach Swinney doesn’t just offer kids because they’re good,” he said. “He offers them because he knows everything about them. He just gets to know people before he offers them.”

Kelley is keeping his fingers crossed that he will be one of the select number of prospects to earn a prized offer from Clemson and have the chance to go right down the road to play his college ball at Death Valley.

“That would be a big dream for me because I grew up here,” he said. “So, that would be a hometown offer and I wouldn’t have to go out of state or anything. And then just playing for them would be so big for me.”

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