By Hale McGranahan.

Justin Foster was confident that his hard work would eventually result in an offer from Clemson. He just didn’t think it would happen so soon.

On Thursday night, the 2017 outside linebacker from Crest-Shelby (N.C.) got word from Clemson defensive tackles coach Dan Brooks that the Tigers were ready to make a move.

“It feels good, because I’m a sophomore and I thought it would be coming later on when I went on a visit,” Foster told TheClemsonInsider on Thursday night.

Foster to Brooks over the phone before his basketball game.

“When I was talking to him, he asked me how I was doing, because I’d met him before when I went to the game,” Foster said. “He was just talking to me and asking how I was doing, so I didn’t really think much of it.

“But, at the end of it, the conversation, he told me that I have a full-scholarship and a full-ride and that he would offer me.”

Foster visited Clemson in the fall for the Louisville game.

“I had been to (North) Carolina games and I had been to Wake Forest, but the atmosphere at Clemson was totally different,” he said. “The way they treated you, all the schools treat everyone nice, but at Clemson they treat everyone like a family.

“It feels like a big family thing and all the fans and everything. I really liked that, like how they treated everybody around there and the atmosphere. The atmosphere was totally different from any other game I’d been to.”

As a sophomore, Foster had 57 tackles, seven tackles for loss, two sacks and two forced fumbles.