Jacob Lacey, the nation’s No. 4 defensive tackle in the 2019 class according to 247Sports, will return to Clemson next month. The four-star standout from South Warren High in Bowling Green, Ky., made his first visit to Clemson for the Louisville game in October.
The rising junior was invited to Clemson’s second Junior Day of the year on March 4.
“Really I’m just looking to get to talk to the new defensive line coach,” Lacey told The Clemson Insider. “We actually talked (Wednesday) on the phone for a good while talking about how he can’t wait for me to get up there and show me the new facility, things like that.”
Lacey thinks highly of Todd Bates, who was hired as Clemson’s new defensive line coach in January, and Bates thinks highly of Lacey as well.
“From what I can tell he is a great coach. He is very straightforward and very dedicated to the game of football,” Lacey said, “and when we talked he had just got done watching my film right before that. He said that I was a very special player and he thinks that I would fit perfectly in his defensive line.”
Tennessee, Louisville and Kentucky were the first to offer Lacey last spring. Cincinnati, Michigan State, Notre Dame and Purdue have followed with offers since, while Penn State, Southern Cal, Stanford, Duke and Virginia are also showing interest.
Clemson made a memorable impression on Lacey when he was on campus and witnessed the Tigers’ top-five win over Louisville on Oct. 1.
“It was amazing,” he said of the visit. “When we went the new facility wasn’t done yet but we still took a tour and I don’t know how someone wouldn’t get lost in there. It’s huge and I absolutely loved it, and the crowd was the best atmosphere I’ve ever seen. It was a great experience.”
Overall, Lacey said Clemson’s family culture is what he likes the most.
“When I talked to the coaches you could just tell they really cared for their school and wanted nothing else but to win championships,” he said, “and I loved every bit of it.”
Lacey visited Louisville on Feb. 11 and will visit Tennessee this weekend. Penn State, Virginia and Duke are some of the other trips he has planned.
The 6-foot-2, 290-pounder is rated by 247 as the No. 37 overall prospect, No. 4 defensive tackle and No. 2 prospect from Kentucky in the 2019 class.