A promising young quarterback prospect — a local product who now plays in the Peach State — plans to get back to Clemson for a game this season.
Gavin Owens, a 6-foot-4, 205-pound rising sophomore in the class of 2025, is eyeing a visit to Death Valley this fall and also looking at trips to a few other ACC/SEC schools.
“Clemson is a must,” Owens said to The Clemson Insider recently regarding his visit plans for the fall. “I’ll probably go by Georgia again and then if I can, I’ll go back down to Florida State, and I’m trying to swing by Alabama one good time.”
Owens, who played his freshman season at Wren High School (Piedmont, S.C.) but has since transferred to Rabun Gap-Nacoochee (Rabun Gap, Ga.), previously traveled to Clemson for the Dabo Swinney Camp in June and also went to Georgia, Florida State, Wake Forest, Virginia Tech, Alabama, Kentucky and Louisville this summer.
When he makes it back to Clemson, Owens said he simply wants to build “more friendship and relationship with the coaches.”
“I’ve already got some good friendship with them now,” he added. “I know them pretty well. I’ll just get back down there and see the campus and adapt to it more than I am right now.”
As far as Clemson’s staff, Owens has the best relationships with offensive player development coach Tajh Boyd and offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter.
“They’re pretty strong,” Owens said of his bond with those two coaches. “There’s always room to get more tight and know each other better. But if you ask me, they’re pretty tight.”
Owens owns a half-dozen offers already, including an SEC offer from Kentucky and ACC offers from Louisville and Virginia Tech.
As for where he’s at early in the recruiting process, Owens said, “I’m just taking it slow right now.”
“I’m just trying to kind of get around every campus I’ve been right now, and I’ve got my eyes open and just seeing what’s out there right now,” he said. “But Clemson is one of them in the top for me right now.”
Having previously played high school ball in the Palmetto State at Wren, the opportunity to play right down the road from there at a place like Death Valley in the future would be something special for Owens, should he receive an offer from Clemson moving forward.
“It would be great,” he said of playing in the Valley. “The fans are really into the game, and all the emotion and loudness, everything they give off is heartwarming and just exciting to play in. A stadium like that is just great.”
Owens estimates that he has been participating in the Swinney Camp since he was about 10 years old. Prior to camping at Clemson this summer, he made a recruiting visit to campus for the Florida State game last October.
As a freshman last season, Owens passed for 2,262 yards and 19 touchdowns while also rushing for 125 yards and four more scores on the ground.
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