After signing a couple of running backs as part of the 2021 class in five-star Will Shipley and four-star Phil Mafah, Clemson is planning right now to sign one running back in the 2022 class.

In our Looking Ahead feature, The Clemson Insider takes a look at the top names on Clemson’s running back board and where the Tigers stand with them as things stand now:

To date, Clemson has offered only two running backs in the 2022 cycle: Hartford (Ala.) Geneva County five-star Emmanuel Henderson and Jennings (La.) four-star Trevor Etienne, who of course is the younger brother of Travis Etienne.

Henderson (6-1, 185) is slated to announce his commitment on March 13. Clemson has been in the mix for Henderson and made the list of top 10 schools he released last fall, though Alabama is viewed as the odds-on favorite to land the in-state standout, with Georgia considered the distant runner-up.

As for Trevor Etienne (5-10, 210), he was the recipient of Clemson’s first offer to a 2022 running back last summer. LSU handed him his first scholarship offer in May 2019, and he holds a bunch of other SEC offers from schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Florida and Texas A&M.

It’s still relatively early in the recruiting process for Etienne, who doesn’t appear to be close to making a decision. We can tell you this recruitment isn’t a case where it’s a given that Trevor will follow in Travis’s footsteps and come to Clemson, too. Based on what we’ve heard from sources, we believe chances are greater he ends up at nearby LSU or somewhere else in the SEC.

There are several other prospects to keep an eye on should Clemson choose to expand its running back board beyond the aforementioned two offers.

One name to know is Clayton (N.C.) Cleveland four-star Omarion Hampton (6-0, 210). There is mutual interest between the Tigers and Hampton, who caught the eye of then-running backs coach and current offensive coordinator/tight ends coach Tony Elliott at the Dabo Swinney Camp in June 2019.

Hampton hopes to add Clemson to his offer list that currently includes North Carolina, NC State, Miami, Florida, South Carolina, LSU, Michigan and Penn State among others. “It would be exciting for me,” Hampton said to TCI of a potential Clemson offer. “I would be interested in them since they’re a top school.”

A few of the other running backs in the 2022 class we’re tracking are Pike Road (Ala.) three-star Quinshon Judkins (pictured above), Madison (Miss.) Germantown three-star Branson Robinson and Canton (Ga.) Cherokee three-star Keith Adams Jr.

Adams Jr. (5-10, 205), the son of former Clemson All-American linebacker Keith Adams, has a grayshirt offer from the Tigers, meaning he would be placed on scholarship for the 2023 season.

As for Judkins (6-0, 195) and Robinson (5-10, 220), both have been in contact with and are garnering interest from the Tigers.