It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
We hope everyone had a great weekend.
Top DL target set to make decision Wednesday
Just two days ahead of a big announcement for one of Clemson’s top defensive line prospects in the 2023 recruiting class, The Clemson Insider is calling for Wednesday to be a sunny day in Tiger Town.
Warner Robins (Ga.) High School five-star defensive lineman Vic Burley announced Monday that he will be announcing his college decision come Wednesday afternoon. Burley, who 247Sports considers to be the nation’s No. 4 defensive lineman and No. 22 prospect overall in the 2023 class, is ready to announce his decision, as he will choose between Clemson, Georgia, Michigan State and Tennessee.
We have gathered enough information to make our sunny forecast for Burley.
While Burley wasn’t in attendance for Clemson’s official visit weekend from June 3-5, TCI was told by a source not to discount players who weren’t in town as a wave of commitments came in early last week.
And while Burley last visited for Clemson’s Elite Junior Day on Jan. 31, it was then that he told TCI that the Tigers were at the top of his recruitment.
That held true at the time and obviously bears fruit now, but Burley wanted to make other visits before pulling the trigger on a college commitment.
“I know they’re at the top, I just don’t really have a good (feel) on my list right now,” he said back in January. “But I know they’re at the top, though.”
One thing stands out the most to Burley when he thinks about Clemson’s program.
“They think more of the person than the athlete,” he said.
TE target announcing commitment Tuesday
Archbishop Wood High School (Warminster, Pa.) three-star tight end Markus Dixon will make his commitment at 5 p.m. on Tuesday, June 14.
At this time, we’re prepared to make our sunny forecast for Dixon, who took an official visit to Clemson last weekend and has no plans to make any additional visits to other contenders in his recruitment.
“It was great,” Dixon said regarding his official visit experience. “I think Clemson made a very huge impact in my recruitment.”
Dixon reported an offer from Clemson during the official visit on Friday, June 3.
“It was a heavy offer,” he said. “It’s not just any Power Five school offering me. This is a team that’s almost consistently top-four every year. I think that this is a great program and them offering just really shows my skills and abilities and how they’d love to use me.”
If Dixon were to commit to Clemson, he’d join First Baptist Academy (Naples, Fla.) four-star Olsen Patt Henry, who announced his verbal commitment to Clemson last week.
Dixon said that Clemson’s coaching staff did talk about him and Henry being the only tight ends that they’re heavily interested in.
“Hanging with him throughout the whole weekend, he was just a great person to be around,” Dixon said of Henry. “We haven’t even played together, so I think that just says a lot about his character.”
Dixon (6-5, 230) is the nation’s No. 24 tight end in the 2023 class, according to the 247Sports Composite.
Tigers in good position to land top-75 recruit
After speaking with a source familiar with a Lone Star State prospect’s recruitment, we can tell you that Clemson is in a prime position to land the commitment of one of its top targets.
We can tell you that things have been trending in that direction for Permian (Odessa, Texas) 2023 four-star offensive lineman Harris Sewell, ever since he was among Clemson’s 31 official visitors for the program’s official visit weekend.
In April, Sewell dropped a top-five featuring Clemson along with Texas A&M, Texas, Oklahoma and Alabama. The Tigers extended a scholarship offer to Sewell on Nov. 1, just a couple of days after he was in attendance as an unofficial visitor for Clemson’s 30-20 win over Florida State. He also visited Clemson last July.
The 6-foot-4, 300-pounder is ranked as a top-100 national prospect in the 2023 class by both ESPN (No. 65) and the 247Sports Composite (No. 73).
While this goes without saying, this would be a major addition to Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class, as well as a big boost for the program’s offensive line recruiting going forward.
Update on the nation’s top-ranked LB
The nation’s No. 1 linebacker in the 2024 class returned to Clemson for another visit last week. Jefferson (Ga.) High School five-star Sammy Brown was back on campus for an unofficial visit this past Friday.
It was his first time back in Clemson since he visited for the Tigers’ final spring practice before the program’s spring game. Friday marked his third trip to Tiger Town in as many months, as he was also on campus on March 12, when he became the first class of 2024 prospect to receive an offer from the Tigers.
“We went up Friday morning and left that night,” Brown told The Clemson Insider. “My brother was camping in the weekend camp, so we just helped him out and made a visit out of it. I was able to spend a lot of time with Coach Goodwin and be able to just talk with him. I was also able to talk with some of the players that were working the linebacker drills. The highlight of the visit was probably talking about their P.A.W. Journey Program. It was really cool to just see what they’re doing and how they’re developing players off the field.”
It was important for Brown to get back on campus and continue to further build his relationship with Clemson defensive coordinator/linebacker coach Wesley Goodwin.
“Our relationship is definitely getting stronger,” Brown said. “It’s a lot more talks about hunting and fishing than it is football. A little recruiting here and there, but mostly the conversation is about life outside football.”
We asked Brown if this visit changed anything about where Clemson currently stands in his recruitment.
“I’m still trying to stay totally neutral on schools right now, but I really like what Clemson is doing,” he said.
The latest on a top DL target’s visit
TCI caught up with The Loomis Chaffee School (Windsor, CT.) 2024 four-star defensive lineman Jerod Smith, who was on Clemson/s campus for an unofficial visit this Friday.
Smith was able to line up a visit on short notice.
His head coach and Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall got in contact on Thursday night and Smith was able to set up a visit for the following morning.
“It was short notice, but it was a really good visit,” he said. “Of course, they have the best facilities. They have all the best things that you could see, but the family atmosphere there is huge.”
What type of feedback did Smith get from Hall on his visit?
“His main message is that he’s really big on relationships,” Smith said. “He doesn’t give a kid an offer to give a kid an offer. He likes to see how they are, what type of relationship they build and all that.”
Smith 100% respects that level of thinking.
He said that he’s noticed during the recruitment process that with schools that tend to take relationships more seriously, there is usually a better outcome that comes with it. With that being said, Smith is excited to build his relationship with Clemson going forward.
“One of the main things they said too was that Coach Swinney loves to see his recruits visit campus before they decide to even offer or anything,” Smith said. “That was also another big part.”
247Sports has tabbed Smith (6-4, 260) as the nation’s No. 8 defensive lineman and No. 55 prospect overall in the 2024 class.
Staff Writer Gavin Oliver contributed to this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
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