It’s time for this week’s edition of The Insider Report.
We hope everyone had a great weekend.
Top QB target set to make monumental decision Tuesday
On the eve of a monumental announcement for Clemson’s top quarterback prospect in the 2023 recruiting class, The Clemson Insider is calling for Tuesday to be a sunny day in Tiger Town.
Briarwood Christian (Ala.) four-star quarterback Christopher Vizzina announced Sunday that he will be announcing his college decision come Tuesday afternoon. The talented signal-caller is ready to announce his decision, as he will choose between Clemson, Notre Dame, Ole Miss, Auburn, Ohio State and Georgia.
We have gathered enough information to make our sunny forecast for Vizzina, who made two visits to Clemson this past week.
After reaching the Elite 11 finals with his performance at Carrollton High School on Sunday, April 3, Vizzina made his way down to Clemson, where he took in spring practice that following Monday.
Clemson checked all the boxes for Vizzina again, but he wanted to head home to Birmingham and digest the visit before making any potential decision. While he indicated to us that he didn’t know when his next trip to Clemson would be, he made an unannounced visit for the team’s Orange & White Spring Game on Saturday, April 9.
Now that Vizzina is ready to announce his decision, we know that those two visits definitely played a big factor in his decision-making.
Remember, we have long-maintained that Vizzina was and has been the top quarterback on Clemson’s board for quite some time now. While the particular session of Dabo Swinney Camp wasn’t open to the media, we’ve long been told that Vizzina went toe-to-toe with Arch Manning in a “throw-off.”
Both Swinney and Brandon Streeter let Vizzina know that day that he had moved up in their respective class of 2023 quarterbacks rankings and was a top-five guy for them both.
While Clemson only offered the five-star quarterback out of Isidore Newman (New Orleans, La.) that day, Vizzina’s performance, his undeniable moxie and the way he carries himself made a lasting impression on the Tigers.
So much so that Swinney decided to pull the trigger on an offer for Vizzina, even when they still were very much involved in the Manning sweepstakes. Mutual interest between the two sides has since waned and Vizzina quickly and not so quietly became Clemson’s main and only focus.
Every time he meets with Clemson’s head coach there’s not only a big emphasis on Vizzina being “his guy,” but that he’s a “perfect fit” for the Tigers as well.
We have long identified Vizzina as an option for Clemson, even dating back to when he held a handful of Power Five offers from schools like Duke, Georgia Tech, Louisville, Kentucky, Michigan State and Mississippi State.
His trajectory from camp star to top target didn’t happen overnight, but between him being in attendance for Clemon’s season-opener against Georgia in Charlotte and Streeter making consistent visits to Briarwood, it was only a matter of time before he was realized as one of Clemson’s top options.
Clemson was one of the first schools to show interest in Vizzina and it was because of his left tackle, who is now at Clemson, Trent Howard.
In a conversation with TCI in February, Briarwood head coach Matthew Forester recalled back in 2020 during the shutdown when he was at home and former Clemson defensive tackles coach and recruiting coordinator Todd Bates called. Bates asked Forester to tell him about his quarterback.
After Tuesday, the rest will likely be history.
The latest on 4-star WR, Klubnik’s teammate
Following Saturday’s Orange & White spring game, TCI spoke to Westlake (Texas) 2023 four-star wide receiver Jaden Greathouse, who made his way to Clemson for his first-ever campus visit.
Greathouse is the former high school teammate of Clemson freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik.
“It was great to spend time with all the coaches,” Greathouse said. “I got to view campus and all that. I got to hang out with Cade a little bit too. I got to have a private meeting with Coach (Tyler Grisham) afterward. I was there pretty late around 8ish. We were just talking and all that stuff. They didn’t offer me and they want me to come back up in the summer.”
Before his visit, according to Greathouse, Clemson told him that they don’t offer until you come up and see campus. He was kind of expecting to get an offer once he got up there. Greathouse said he “probably will” get back up to Clemson this summer.
“(Coach Grisham) told me that he wanted to offer me, but Coach Swinney told him to wait because they want to see me run routes for them before,” he said.
Greathouse still needs to take a couple of visits and see where he is in his recruitment before he gets back to Clemson. Though, he said if the timing works, he’ll “definitely” aim to get back up to Clemson again and keep working on that.
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 last Wednesday to take in the Tigers’ final spring practice before Saturday’s spring game. It marked his second trip to Tiger Town in as many months as he was also on campus March 12, when he became the first class of 2024 prospect to receive an offer from the Tigers.
TCI caught up with the 6-foot-2, 220-pound rising junior following his latest visit to Clemson.
“We got there just in time for team meetings and then watched their practice. Afterwards we went and ate dinner with Coach Goodwin (defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Wes Goodwin),” Brown told The Clemson Insider. “It was an overall great visit. The practice was more preparation for the spring game than anything, so it was a really chill day. Great to catch up with Coach Goodwin and others.”
Brown said the main message he took away from his conversations with Goodwin and Dabo Swinney is that the Tigers remain really interested in him but want him to take his time as he goes through the recruiting process and enjoy seeing different schools. They also told him to just keep working in high school and stay focused on that for the time being.
Before visiting Clemson on Wednesday, Brown went to Georgia the prior weekend to watch its scrimmage and also visited Alabama last Monday, when he picked up an offer from the Crimson Tide. Following the Clemson visit, he traveled to Oklahoma on Friday and said he might make it to Ohio State but is still figuring that out.
As for when he will be back at Clemson, Brown – who has been camping at Clemson since he was 10 years old – said he will try to participate in the Swinney Camp again this June and possibly even get back on campus before then.
The plan for Brown, he said, is to probably have a top-five schools list sometime during his junior year and then make his commitment sometime after that.
“As of right now still just taking everything in,” Brown said of the recruiting process. “We wanna be able to see as much as possible before we make a decision so we know that we’re making the best decision.”
Brown is considered a five-star prospect by the 247Sports Composite, which ranks him as the No. 1 linebacker and No. 9 overall prospect in the country for the 2024 class.
Clemson in a great spot with top DE target
Among the headlining visitors on hand for Saturday’s spring game was David Ojiegbe, a four-star defensive end in the 2023 class from St. John’s College High School in Washington, D.C.
From what we have gathered, Ojiegbe’s visit to Clemson on Saturday went very well, and Ojiegbe himself told us that he enjoyed his time while on campus for the game.
If you saw TCI’s story on Ojiegbe entering the spring game visit, you know that the Tigers were already, in his words, “definitely at the top” of his list going in, and we believe Saturday’s visit only strengthened Clemson’s standing with him.
Ojiegbe also visited Clemson for the program’s second junior day of the year in early March, when he scored an offer from the Tigers. He is ranked as high as the No. 18 edge defender and No. 162 overall prospect in the 2023 class by 247Sports.
Ojiegbe – who goes to the same high school that Clemson redshirt sophomore defensive tackle Tre Williams attended – explained to TCI recently why he is so high on Clemson.
“Just the family environment and just how it’s a small school and (defensive ends) coach Lemanski (Hall) is a players’ coach,” Ojiegbe said. “I’ve been talking to Coach Wes too and he’s been giving me good vibes, talking about the scheme and everything. He’s a very down-to-earth guy, I like how he coaches. He seems like a player-coach also. I also have my boy down there, Tré Williams, I have a good relationship with him, so I definitely feel like I’d be at home down there. I liked it a lot. I liked Coach Dabo.”
Ojiegbe is in the process of narrowing down his recruitment and told us he’s currently focused on schools like Miami, North Carolina, N.C. State, Michigan, Maryland and LSU, in addition to Clemson.
Update on 4-star Texas TE Reid Mikeska
We wanted to give an update on a four-star class of 2023 tight end from the Lone Star State who was slated to attend Clemson’s spring game but couldn’t end up making the trip.
Bridgeland (Texas) High School’s Reid Mikeska was supposed to be at the spring game, but his flight got canceled.
TCI learned through a source that Clemson felt good about its chances with him heading into the planned visit. The source was unsure whether the visit would lead to a commitment from Mikeska, but the Tigers felt good about their chances with him, especially since he already considered Clemson one of his top schools coming off his visit for Clemson’s “spring elite day” on March 5, when the Tigers offered him.
“Easily one of my top schools, for sure,” Mikeska said to TCI after the visit. “They definitely helped themselves with this visit. They were already one of my top schools without offering me and I saw the campus and they offered. So, that moves them up even higher.”
Mikeska dropped his top-12 schools list on March 27, and included Clemson, of course, along with Alabama, Auburn, Baylor, LSU, Miami, Michigan State, Texas Tech, South Carolina, Tennessee, North Carolina and Florida.
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