Tag: Ronan Hanafin

Swinney and the Tigers will not redshirt this true freshman wide receiver as planned

Clemson will not be redshirting this freshman wide receiver as initially planned.

Dabo Swinney and the Tigers are making a change to their plans.

During his radio call-in show Monday night, Swinney shared that they have a new plan for freshman wide receiver Ronan Hanafin. Originally expected to redshirt, Hanafin will no longer do so as he has given the Tigers value so far this season.

“We took the redshirt off of Ronan (Hanafin),” the head coach said. “He actually played all last week, played special teams for us, and we’re going to continue. We just feel like he just brings a lot of value to us, and he’s going to just keep getting better.”

A member of Clemson’s 2023 class, Hanafin was one of the top athletes in the country in high school. According to 247Sports, he was the No.13 athlete and No.220 overall player.

This wasn’t the only update Swinney shared on Freshman. The head coach noted that the Tigers still intend to redshirt true freshmen wide receivers Noble Johnson and Misun “Tink” Kelley.

“We’re definitely, right now, still trying to redshirt Noble and also trying to redshirt Misun Kelley,” Swinney said. “We’re hoping we can get maybe another couple of games out of Misun, but we’ll see what happens.”

Changes can come, but this is the plan for now.

Dabo Swinney discusses freshmen wide receivers, who will play, and who will redshirt

Dabo Swinney broke down Clemson’s freshmen wide receivers and who we should expect to play or get redshirt.

The Clemson football program heads into the 2023 college football season with a high ceiling on offense but a wide receiver room that will need to step up for the Tigers to perform to the level they need to for a college football playoff appearance. 

During his radio call-in show Monday night, Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney took the time to discuss the wide receivers, particularly the freshmen wideouts. Who of Tyler Brown, Ronan Hanafin, Misun “Tink” Kelley, and Noble Johnson will play, and who will redshirt? 

“Really liked the four that we signed, and Tyler Brown for sure’s going to play,” Swinney said. “Ronan, we’re going to redshirt, and then Noble and Tink, we’re going to try to hold them; we’ll see how it goes. A lot of it depends on (Troy) Stellato, who’s back now. He’s looked good the last few days. … He’s been here two years and hasn’t played (due to injuries). He’s a guy that certainly can do it, and he’s a bonus guy because we feel really good about our core group.”

A local product, Tyler Brown, has been incredibly impressive during his short time with the program, with Swinney and others raving about what he is capable of multiple times. Expectations were that Johnson would be the freshmen wide receiver to have the earliest impact, but Brown has seemed to separate himself from the group.

Swinney also touched on the rule changes with postseason games now not counting toward the four-game limit for freshmen keeping their redshirt status.

“They changed the rule this year where the postseason doesn’t count,” Swinney said. “So let’s just say you go to the national championship, well, you can play seven games. The postseason does not count. So you can play four games in the season, you can play the ACC Championship, a playoff game, and the national championship. You can play seven games and still be redshirted.”

Clemson’s freshmen wide receivers are in a good spot right now.

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Dabo Swinney on the Tigers’ freshmen wide receivers following Clemson’s first scrimmage

Dabo Swinney talked Clemson freshmen wide receivers following their first scrimmage.

Heading into the 2023 college football season, the Clemson wide receiver room will have to perform at a high level for the Tigers’ offense to remain consistent and compete with the top programs in the country.

Following their first scrimmage in Memorial Stadium, Swinney met with the media and discussed how the team’s true freshman wide receivers have looked. Speaking on Noble Johnson, Misun “Tink” Kelley, Tyler Brown, and Ronan Hanafin, Swinney discussed how they’ve been and what we can expect.

“Noble, Tink and Tyler are really in a good spot,” the head coach said. “Ronan has flashed. He’s made some really good competitive plays, but he’s probably got the most to learn at his position. But I feel really, really good about the progress Noble’s made. He’s had a couple pretty good days together. I think it’s slowing down a little.”

Great news for the Tigers, wide receiver is a position Clemson fans have been intrigued by heading into the season. While we know there are players in that room who can ball, someone needs to step up and be a go-to guy for Cade Klubnik. While they may not be ready yet, hearing players are on track is always a good sign.

“Y’all have heard me say – it’s Beaux (Collins), it’s Antonio (Williams), it’s Adam (Randall) and Cole (Turner) and it’s Spec (Brannon Spector). Those are five guys that we feel like we can go play anybody with,” Swinney said. So, it’s about really developing some elite depth after that and hopefully not having to start any of these guys, which we ended up having to do the last couple years. We had to start Beaux before he was really ready to start. We had to start Antonio. We’ve had to do that a little bit with injuries and stuff, so hopefully we can stay healthy and really bring these guys along at the proper pace and develop some elite depth.”

Clemson’s young wide receivers can focus on development rather than performance for the first time in a bit. Obviously, performance matters but practice performance and game performance are two different things. These young guys can do their work behind the scenes and develop rather than being thrust into playing time.

So far, so good for Clemson’s freshmen wide receivers.

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Massachusetts 2023 athlete had a great official visit with Notre Dame

The Irish hosted an East coast underrated star over the weekend

We are into the summer recruiting session and the Irish continue to push an envelope that has not been seen often. [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] has completely changed the recruiting philosophy, going after players that former Notre Dame coaches never even thought would be options.

On Tuesday evening, Massachusetts 2023 athlete [autotag]Ronan Hanafin[/autotag] tweeted out a few pictures of his official visit along with tagging Freeman, offensive coordinator [autotag]Tommy Rees[/autotag], wide receiver coach [autotag]Chansi Stuckey[/autotag], tight end coach [autotag]Gerad Parker[/autotag], special teams coordinator [autotag]Brian Mason[/autotag], on-campus recruiting coordinator [autotag]Mackenzie Zanow[/autotag], and graduate assistant [autotag]Johnny Aylward[/autotag]. The six-foot-three-inch and 206-pound player is most likely being recruited on the offensive side of the ball after seeing who he tagged in his post.

The Irish going after Hanafin is a very positive development due to his current offer list which includes Alabama, Georgia, Clemson, Ohio State, Michigan and others. Although he is ranked by some outlets as a three-star prospect, that offer list shows that Hanafin might be underrated at the moment.

Hanafin has yet to schedule a date for a verbal commitment, but it might be soon as he has two more official visits to Alabama and Nebraska.

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4-star WR commit Hanafin goes in-depth on Clemson commitment

Ronan Hanafin knows that when he eventually leaves Clemson, he’ll be faster, stronger, smarter and most importantly, a better man. It’s why the four-star athlete out of Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Massachusetts) verbally pledged to Dabo …

Ronan Hanafin knows that when he eventually leaves Clemson, he’ll be faster, stronger, smarter and most importantly, a better man.

It’s why the four-star athlete out of Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Massachusetts) verbally pledged to Dabo Swinney’s program on Sunday evening.

“I believe in what Clemson does and how they do it,” Hanafin told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Wednesday. “All the coaches there — I have a lot of trust in them.”

Hanafin, one of the nation’s top-ranked athletes, informed Clemson of his decision about a week prior to this past Sunday’s announcement. He FaceTimed with Swinney, Tyler Grisham and Brandon Streeter and they were all super excited, jumping around like crazy.

From there, Hanafin made multiple phone calls to notify the coaches of his remaining finalists —Alabama, Notre Dame and Boston College — that he would not be coming to their program.

As Hanafin mentioned above, it wasn’t just one thing that set Clemson apart from the rest, but the program’s official visit weekend from June 3-5 really helped the Tigers’ case.

“It’s obviously everything Clemson has to offer in a couple of days, which is kind of a lot,” he said, “but you just have to take it all in and kind of experience everything for only a little bit. It was definitely an unreal time going there. We had a lot of fun with the other recruits.”

Speaking of the other recruits, Hanafin joins Rockwall (Texas) four-star Noble Johnson as Clemson’s other wide receiver commitment in its 2023 recruiting class. While Hanafin didn’t have a chance to meet Johnson, who wasn’t in attendance for Clemson’s official visit weekend, he spoke highly of his future teammate and how they can complement each other at the next level.

“I mean I think we’ll be a dynamic duo,” Hanafin said. “He’s obviously a very big and strong player, and I think I am too. I think we’re around the same size and I think we can do a lot of damage to defenses.”

They’ll have the opportunity to do so while catching passes from both Cade Klubnik and Christopher Vizzina. Hanafin has already gravitated towards both quarterbacks, as he bonded with Vizzina during Clemson’s official visit weekend. He also got the chance to spend time with Klubnik, who served as his player host for the weekend. 

Hanafin said that he meshed well with Vizzina and is excited to see what they can do on Saturdays in the future. As for Klubnik, the freshman signal-caller was the first player that Hanafin met when he went down to Clemson. They got real close during the process and he was one of the first to know of his decision to commit to Clemson.

While Vizzina and Klubnik both put on their recruiting caps, it was Tyler Grisham who recruited Hanafin the hardest.

“Coach Grisham is a great guy,” Hanafin said of Clemson’s wide receivers coach. “I originally started talking to him back in February. He obviously did a great job. He’s one of the most high-energy people on the planet and I feel like he’s a great mentor for me already. I’m very excited to see what he can do in the wide receiver room.”

With that said, what kind of role does Grisham see for Hanafin at the next level?

“I think to start I’d be like the outside, boundary position,” Hanafin said. “I think they really see me as a physical player, as well as having a lot of speed and being able to stretch the field. One of the things that Coach Grisham and Coach Streeter love about me is they like my versatility to be able to play pretty much wherever they want me to. I think I can do a number of things.”

All of Hanafin’s finalists offered him as an athlete, to begin with. They pretty much let him choose based on where they saw him. With Clemson, since Grisham was originally the one that reached out to Hanafin — the Tigers obviously liked him as a receiver, but they still left the choice up to him.

“I want to play receiver,” he said, “and obviously it’s a great program and I think under Coach Grisham and Coach Swinney, they definitely have the knowledge to be able to develop me into a great receiver.”

Hanafin won’t be able to be a mid-year enrollee, so he’ll have to wait until next June before he’s officially enrolled and on campus.

With that said, what can Clemson fans expect out of Hanafin once he arrives on campus?

“I think I’m a very versatile, athletic player,” Hanafin said. “I don’t want to pat myself on the back or anything, but I know I can get the job done and I’m excited to see what I can bring to Clemson and how I can help them win a national championship.”

— Photo for this article courtesy of @RonanHanafin on Twitter.

Come out to support Clemson softball at Dear Old Clemson’s second event which is set for August 27 at the Madren Conference Center.  Clemson returns as one of the top teams in the nation and adds some new talent to the mix.  If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events or purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.

Notre Dame misses on late rising athlete from Massachusetts

Losing Shipley still stings and now this

The Irish were early to find a potential gem in athlete [autotag]Ronan Hanafin[/autotag] out of Massachusetts. They were one of the first big powers to offer the most likely future wide receiver in November of last year. Other big time programs followed, including Alabama, Georgia, USC, LSU, Oklahoma and Ohio State.

Due to the early offer, many thought Hanafin was an Irish lean. An official visit in June of this year continued to fuel that belief. However, Hanafin announced on Tuesday his commitment to Clemson, taking another name off the board for [autotag]Marcus Freeman[/autotag] and the Irish.

Fortunately, the cupboard isn’t bare at the position; the Irish have commitments from [autotag]Jaden Greathouse[/autotag], [autotag]Braylon James[/autotag] and [autotag]Rico Flores[/autotag]. What this does mean is Freeman has to go back to the drawing board to find another receiver recruit if four in the 2023 class was the desired number. Time will tell if that is the case, but for now the Irish have three very good commitments for their current cycle.

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Clemson lands commitment from top 2023 athlete

Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney and the Tigers just added a massive commitment to their 2023 class, with a four-star prospect likely to play receiver.

Clemson has landed a massive verbal commitment from one of the country’s top recruits.

After long being pegged by recruiting analysts to commit to Notre Dame, four-star athlete Ronan Hanafin took to Twitter on Sunday to announce his pledge to the Tigers. He chose Clemson over Alabama, Boston College and Notre Dame.

Hanafin is the No. 18 athlete in the class of 2023 and the No. 5 prospect coming out of Massachusetts, according to 247Sports Composite rankings.

While recruiting websites list him as an athlete, the 6-foot-3, 210-pound Hanafin was primarily recruited by Clemson wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham and will likely play at receiver for the Tigers.

“I really loved my time at Clemson for my official visit,” Hanafin told 247Sports. “The whole trip my entire family and I were treated like part of the Clemson family. One of the biggest takeaways was how genuine everyone was from Coach Swinney and Coach (Tyler) Grisham to my player host Cade Klubnik who I got to spend a lot of good time with. I heard lots of ‘Swinneyisms’ from all the coaches there and they really lined up with my beliefs.”

Assuming Hanafin does line up at receiver, his commitment marks Clemson’s second from a wide receiver prospect, the other being four-star Noble Johnson.

With Hanafin’s commitment, Clemson now has 20 verbal commitments to its 2023 recruiting class, two of which are five-stars and 15 of which are four-stars.

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Clemson lands commitment from one of nation’s top athletes

Clemson has landed the verbal commitment of a top wide receiver prospect and Massaschutttes native. Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, MA.) four-star Ronan Hanafin announced his commitment to the Tigers around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday. …

Clemson has landed the verbal commitment of a top wide receiver prospect and Massaschutttes native.

Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, MA.) four-star Ronan Hanafin announced his commitment to the Tigers around 5:30 p.m. ET on Sunday.

Hanafin, a 6-foot-3, 206-pound rising senior, chose Clemson over his other three finalists — Alabama, Notre Dame and Boston College.

Hanafin, one of the best two-way players in the country, is considered to be the nation’s No. 13 athlete and No. 166 overall prospect in the 2023 class, per 247Sports. The multi-faceted athlete, who has a unique skill set and desired versatility, could theoretically be an elite safety or linebacker at the next level, but he’s coming to Clemson to play receiver.

After picking up an offer from Clemson during an unofficial visit on March 31, Hanafin returned for Clemson’s official visit weekend from June 3-5. It was then and there that Clemson and specifically Tyler Grisham outlined the role they envisioned Hanafin playing at the next level.

“They see me at the outside receiver spot with the versatility to play down inside as well,” Hanafin told The Clemson Insider at the time. “It was humbling to hear that they see me as exactly the type of player and person they are looking for.”

Clemson has viewed Hanafin as a priority from the get-go. Grisham stopped by Buckingham Browne & Nichols School during the evaluation period in the spring and even stayed for one of Hanafin’s lacrosse games.

We had the chance to talk with Hanafin after his official visit. Since then, he’s chosen to keep his recruitment private and close to the vest. But earlier this summer, Hanafin indicated that he loved everything Clemson had to offer and could see himself in that environment.

Hanafin becomes the second receiver to verbally pledge their commitment to Dabo Swinney’s program, joining Rockwall (Texas) four-star Noble Johnson. They’ll both have a chance to not only complement each other in Grisham’s room but catching passes from Briarwood Christain’s (Alabama) five-star quarterback commit Christopher Vizzina.

Hanafin is the 20th total commitment in the Tigers’ class, joining Johnson, Vizzina, Thompson (Alabama) High five-star defensive lineman Peter Woods, Warner Robins (Georgia) four-star defensive lineman Vic Burley, Rome (Georgia) four-star  defensive tackle Stephiylan Green, Woodward Academy (Georgia.) four-star defensive end A.J. Hoffler, St. John’s College (Washington, D.C.) four-star defensive end David Ojiegbe,  Eagle’s Landing Christian (Georgia) four-star offensive lineman Zechariah Owens, Permian (Texas) four-star offensive lineman Harris Sewell, Vandegrift (Texas) four-star offensive lineman Ian Reed, Westlake (Georgia) four-star cornerback Avieon Terrell, First Baptist Academy (Florida) four-star tight end Olsen Patt Henry, St. Francis (Georgia) four-star cornerback Branden Strozier, Sumner (Florida) four-star safety Kylen Webb, Mill Creek (Georgia) four-star linebacker Jamal Anderson, Denmark (Georgia) four-star linebacker Dee Crayton, Milton High (Georgia) four-star safety Rob Billings and Archbishop Wood (Pennsylvania) three-star tight end Markus Dixon.

“It’s the tightest family I have seen anywhere,” Hanafin said. “All-in is a good way to describe it. The coaches, the players, their families — everyone is all in.”

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You’ve got mail: TCI answers your recruiting questions

The Clemson Insider has decided to take a relatively old concept and put a new spin on it. As we already introduced on our message board, TCI will field weekly recruiting mailbag questions, which will be answered in an article format. We’ll choose …

The Clemson Insider has decided to take a relatively old concept and put a new spin on it. As we already introduced on our message board, TCI will field weekly recruiting mailbag questions, which will be answered in an article format. We’ll choose questions to answer and provide you with the most relevant information regarding Clemson recruiting.

Without further ado, we took a crack at answering some of your mailbag questions. It should be noted that the questions have been edited for clarity.

Q: Is there any way to list our current prospects and the timeline of their decision — if they have one? 

Absolutely! 

Right now, the only current prospect of note that has set a commitment date is Stockbridge (Ga.) three-star defensive back Shelton Lewis, who will be making his college decision on Monday, Aug. 8 at around 9:30 a.m. We’ll have more details on Lewis in an answer to another question that was posed, but we are expecting it to be a sunny day in Clemson.

As for someone like Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, Mass.) four-star wide receiver Ronan Hanafin, the general expectation was that the Massachusetts native was going to be committed before the start of his senior season. However, there hasn’t been a whole lot of chatter coming out of his camp. Hanafin very well could choose between Clemson, Notre Dame, Alabama and Boston College before his senior campaign rolls around, but each passing day makes that more and more unlikely.

Another uncommitted prospect that Clemson is heavily in the mix for is Kayden McDonald. The four-star defensive tackle out of North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) is said to be eying a commitment date sometime in the month of October. That would allow him to make an official visit to Clemson for a gameday at Memorial Stadium this fall.

When we wrote about McDonald in this week’s edition of The Insider Report, we reported that he didn’t receive permission from his coach to attend the All-In Cookout because it conflicted with his schedule. The cookout was also on a Monday. Clemson should be able to get him on campus again and there should be a resolution in that regard, sooner than later.

Lastly, I wanted to touch on Christopher Johnson. It seems that Clemson may be out of the running for the three-star running back out of Fort Lauderdale’s (Fla.) Dillard High School. While Johnson hasn’t outwardly removed Clemson from contention, he recently told the Miami Herald that he’s focusing on two schools — Miami and Ole Miss. While Johnson previously told us that an official visit to Clemson sometime this fall would be in the cards, that still remains to be seen. In any event, he’s said to be close to making a decision.

Q: I thought someone shared a comment or link to an article where a UGA site predicted a heavily recruited player was going to pick Clemson on Monday. I can’t remember if he was an offensive lineman or defensive lineman but I recall he was a pretty big player. Was that a figment of my imagination?

I think you may be referring to Kayden McDonald, who received a crystal ball to Clemson from 247Sports back on July 31. As for a player who is set to announce this coming Monday, that’s Shelton Lewis, who also hails from the Peach State.

Clemson is looking to land both of their commitments, but as I noted above, McDonald likely won’t be making any college decisions until October.

Q: It might have already been covered but with us supposedly offering current OSU commit Mathews, would we still take both him and Lewis?

In a perfect world, Clemson would probably love to take both Shelton Lewis and Jermaine Matthews, Jr. 

The more talent you can accumulate on your roster the better, right?

However, after speaking with a couple of sources, Clemson did not extend an offer to the Ohio State commit. After messaging with Matthews, he told us that he spoke with cornerbacks coach Mike Reed, but that appears to be the extent of what took place.

So, in that event, I would say it’s very unlikely that Clemson would take both Lewis and Matthews. That’s from a numbers standpoint and the fact that Clemson would be rather unlikely to offer a prospect that’s already pledged their commitment elsewhere. At the same time, the Tigers feel pretty good about their chances of landing Lewis and TCI has already called for this coming Monday to be a sunny day in Tiger Town.

Q: Will Clemson pull back IN a 4-star RB?

I’m sure this question relates to the 2023 recruiting class and it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. Jeremiah Cobb committed to Auburn, while Christopher Johnson is poised to commit elsewhere. Clemson did express interest in Klein Forest (Houston, Texas) four-star Parker Jenkins, but that ship has sailed, as he committed to the University of Houston on Saturday.

The same could be said for Dylan Edwards. And while Clemson’s class of 2023 commits were driving the Tigers’ interest in the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, Edwards elected to commit to Notre Dame Saturday after walking back his Kansas State pledge the weekend prior.

Clemson is in a tough spot here, but remember CJ Spiller and staff were able to identify Parish Episcopal School (Dallas, Texas) three-star running back, Andrew Paul, as a prospect worth targeting. At one point, Paul seemed like he was heading to Clemson, but Georgia was able to swoop in late and earn his commitment.

While Clemson certainly needs to start closing at the running back position, there shouldn’t be any doubts about the Tigers’ ability to evaluate prospects that blossom during their senior season.

Dear Old Clemson has added to the store posters signed by all 20 members of Clemson’s 2022 football class.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. Visit Dear Old Clemson to find out how you can help!

The Insider Report: Latest on remaining 2023 targets, updates on top 2024 prospects

It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report. We hope everyone had a great weekend. The latest on remaining class of 2023 targets As it stands on Monday, July 18, Clemson’s top remaining targets in the class of 2023 remain as follows: …

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

We hope everyone had a great weekend.

The latest on remaining class of 2023 targets

As it stands on Monday, July 18, Clemson’s top remaining targets in the class of 2023 remain as follows: Milton High School (Alpharetta, Ga.) four-star safety Robert Billings, Hewitt-Trussville (Ala.) four-star defensive end Hunter Osborne and Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, MA.) four-star wide receiver Ronan Hanafin.

The Clemson Insider established as such when we took a look at what’s next for Clemson in the 2023 recruiting class. As Billings told us over a week ago now, the expectation is that he will be in attendance for the program’s annual July cookout come next weekend.

Right now, Billings figures to be the only uncommitted prospect that will be on campus, but that hasn’t stopped Clemson from pushing for Osborne and Hanafin to be among next weekend’s turnout.

As for Hanafin, TCI was told by a source not to count out Clemson’s chances with the Massachusetts native, even though he has been considered a Notre Dame lean for quite some time now. Another source informed TCI that Clemson is currently trending for Hanafin, but it would be premature to divulge that the Tigers have unseated Notre Dame as the long-standing favorite to land his commitment.

Clemson currently stands well with Osborne and those familiar with his recruitment like the Tigers’ chances at landing him. However, there has been no indication that he’ll be attending next weekend’s cookout or that he’ll be making an announcement regarding his recruitment anytime soon.

In any event, things remain fluid as Dabo Swinney and staff look to fill out their remaining open scholarships for the class of 2023.

Elite Buckeye State signal caller planning Clemson gameday visit

One of the nation’s top signal callers in the class of 2025 recently spoke with a Clemson assistant coach. Findlay (Oh.) 2025 QB Ryan Montgomery spoke with Brandon Streeter on Friday and we were told that the call went great.

While Streeter was on vacation when Montgomery was on campus for an unofficial visit on June 18, Clemson’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach spoke at length with the prized Buckeye State quarterback prospect this past week.

Right now, Montgomery is looking at either Louisville (11/12) or Miami (11/19) for a game day visit at Memorial Stadium this fall.

An update on 5-star Clemson QB target

The Clemson Insider spoke with Willis (Texas) five-star quarterback DJ Lagway ahead of this week’s edition of The Insider Report. Lagway, who is considered to be the apple of Clemson’s eye in the class of 2024, gave the latest on his recruitment and updated his interest in the Tigers at this time.

Lagway has recently had a chance to speak both with Brandon Streeter and Dabo Swinney. According to Lagway, Clemson’s coaching staff has been telling him that he’s their top target in the 2024 recruiting class and that they’re really excited about him and his future.

“I have a real good relationship with those two coaches,” Lagway said. “I talk to Coach Streeter a lot, at least once a week. I try to get on the phone every couple of weeks with Coach Swinney. I talk to them a good amount. I have good conversations with them. We have a good relationship and I’m excited to keep building on it.”

He spoke with Clemson’s offensive coordinator/quarterbacks last week. While Lagway is Clemson’s top target, the conversations have shifted away from football and have focused more on life, family and the human aspect of things.

“That’s a huge factor,” Lagway said. “Outside of football, you’ll be around these people for like three-to-four years at a time, so you got to be able to be comfortable on and off the field with them.” 

Is there anything about Clemson and its recruiting philosophy that’s stood out to Lagway?

“Really just the family atmosphere is different than all the other schools,” he explained. “That kind of the vibe, the Christian-based atmosphere, that makes Clemson stand out from the rest.”

Lagway is unsure when he’ll visit Clemson next, but said that he’ll “definitely visit” for a game at Memorial Stadium this upcoming season. He doesn’t have any games circled, but he’ll workout a date with Streeter eventually.

Lagway will be getting his miles in this fall, as he also plans on taking gameday visits to Texas A&M, Florida, Southern Cal and LSU.

Rising junior receiver target gives the latest

In addition to Lagway, TCI also caught up with Grimsley (Greensboro, N.C.) four-star wide receiver Alex Taylor on Monday. Taylor, who was the first rising junior WR that Tyler Grisham offered in this cycle, updated his current recruitment and where Clemson currently stands in the mix of things.

“After I got offered, I’ve really just been talking to Coach Grisham more frequently, like every week,” Taylor said. “I’m ready for Sept. 1, so I can talk to him more than two times a week. I was the first 2024 (wide receiver) offer and I was super excited about that, so I know he thinks highly of me.”

Taylor said that his relationship with Clemson’s wide receivers coach has “definitely been getting stronger” throughout these past couple of weeks. He also admitted that he talks to Grisham more than really any other coach. 

When asked what stood out about Clemson’s recruiting approach thus far, he made sure to mention how frequently he has been talking to the Tigers, even as a rising junior. He still has a lot of time left in his recruitment, but acknowledged that he also talks to Clemson more than any other school.

This past week, Taylor had a chance to talk to some different coaches on Clemson’s offensive coaching staff, including Streeter and running backs coach CJ Spiller. Taylor has been getting more into it with the whole coaching staff and learning more about Clemson as a whole.

That proves to Taylor that he’s a priority for Clemson.

With that, he’s planning on catching at least one game at Memorial Stadium this fall.

— Photo for this article courtesy of derek.lagway on Instagram.

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