Nokesville (Va.) Patriot four-star offensive lineman Jakai Moore had been planning to visit Clemson on Friday for the All In Cookout, but informed TCI on Tuesday that he will no longer be able to make it, citing a scheduling conflict with his AAU basketball team.

Moore (6-5, 295), a priority Clemson target, had previously intended to visit Penn State this weekend as well following the Clemson visit.

“I actually had to cancel my visits because I have a tournament this weekend in Kentucky,” Moore said.

“It’s a big tournament,” he explained. “For me, it’s just me staying in shape and getting right for the regular [football] season. We start two-a-days on Monday, so that’s basically it.”

Despite the cancellation, Moore remains high on Clemson and said he is now planning to return to campus in the fall. He first visited Clemson in late May to check out the campus and football complex.

“I’m definitely coming back for a game,” he said. “Definitely.”

Moore received an offer from Clemson on May 10 and has been in frequent contact with offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell since. In fact, they spoke on the phone again Tuesday.

“I was actually just on the phone earlier (Tuesday) with my mom and one of my friends with Coach Caldwell, talking to him,” Moore said. “Honestly we were just playing catch-up. We were having a good time, laughing around with him and everything. It was fun.”

Moore said he has also been hearing from his area recruiter for Clemson, Brent Venables.

The Tigers are trying to sell him on the opportunity to be a potential replacement for All-American left tackle Mitch Hyatt, who is entering his final season of eligibility.

“‘We need you,'” Moore said of Clemson’s recruiting pitch. “They’re losing a tackle next year, and I can come fill that spot immediately.”

Last month, Moore publicly narrowed down his list of 20 offers via social media, naming a top seven of Clemson, Miami, North Carolina, Ohio State, Penn State, South Carolina and Virginia Tech.

Ohio State had been slated to get a visit from Moore this week, though the threat of inclement weather has caused that trip to be cancelled as well.

“I was going to go to Ohio State (Wednesday) morning,” he said. “But the weather is bad, so my mom doesn’t want to take that chance to [drive] down there.”

According to Moore, he has maintained regular communication with all of the schools in his top seven and is still considering each of them.

Moore made his first official visit to South Carolina in the spring. He wants to take more official visits in the fall before making his decision, and said Clemson is in line to get one of those.

Asked what stands out most to him when he considers Clemson, Moore pointed to his relationship with Caldwell.

“Whenever you talk to Coach Caldwell, you’ll see he has energy,” Moore said. “He’s always energetic. … You can have a good conversation with Coach Caldwell. I like that because coaches, you can’t normally have a conversation with them. Coach Caldwell, you can sit down, you can talk to him and everything. We could be talking for like 45 minutes, and you wouldn’t even notice because you’re having such a good time with him and talking to him.”

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