College programs are not allowed to host any prospects for on-campus visits due to the NCAA dead period, which was first implemented on March 13 in response to the coronavirus pandemic and has been extended through at least the end of July. However, the ban on recruiting visits did not stop one prospect on Clemson’s radar from making a personal, non-recruiting visit to the school recently.
Chapin (S.C.) offensive lineman Chase Sweigart, a 6-foot-6, 295-pound rising junior in the class of 2022, made the two-hour trip to campus two weeks ago with his family.
“It was great and relaxing to be up there with my family,” Sweigart told The Clemson Insider. “The personal visit was a great opportunity to see the school from a different perspective. I got to walk around and see new things on the campus.”
Sweigart is a longtime participant in the Dabo Swinney Football Camp, having attended the camp at Clemson every summer since he was in the second grade. He had planned to work out at the camp again this year during the second high school session from June 9-11 before it got cancelled due to COVID-19.
But instead of cancelling the hotel reservation they had made for the camp dates, Sweigart and his parents decided to travel to Clemson anyway, take a self-tour of the campus and simply enjoy some time in Tigertown on their own.
“We went to the different educational buildings around the campus,” Sweigart said. “Also we went to local fishing areas to fish some off the shore. I’m big with fishing and wanted to find some nice spots for the future maybe. We went to Joe’s (New York Pizza restaurant) that Coach Caldwell recommended last year at camp.”
It was a fun mini vacation for the Sweigart family, which is a Clemson clan through and through.
“My parents have always been Tiger fans since they were young,” he said. “They love Clemson and love going to the games.”
Along with Clemson, programs such as NC State, Louisville, Virginia Tech, Duke, Syracuse, Florida and Kentucky have shown recruiting interest in Sweigart, who has some schools in mind that he wants to unofficially visit after the dead period ends.
“NC State, Georgia and then maybe South Florida and Virginia Tech,” he said.
In the meantime, Sweigart is hard at work preparing for his upcoming season. Since he wasn’t able to showcase his improved skills as an offensive lineman at the Swinney Camp this year, he hopes to catch the attention of Clemson’s coaching staff with a strong junior campaign in hopes of earning his coveted dream offer from the Tigers.
“I feel that I could show that I’ve improved my game as an offensive lineman by showing I’ve been working on my footwork, strength, hand techniques and mental thinking as a player,” he said. “I’ve been training with Cory Helms — Trenchwork Performance. Just striving to do better.”
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