Loganville (Ga.) Grayson High School was well represented throughout the first couple of sessions of Dabo Swinney Camp.

In attendance last Thursday was Class of 2024 ATH  Joseph Stone Jr. 

“The camp was great, afterward was great,” Stone told The Clemson Insider. “Everything about the whole day [Thursday] was just amazing. They showed me around the facility and a lot of the background of Clemson. The best thing about it is I was able to relate to a lot of it, it felt like home.”

It was Clemson safeties coach Mickey Conn, who coached Stone throughout Day 2 of Swinney Camp and took him around campus afterward.

“It’s very close,” Stone said of his relationship with Conn,” because I go to Grayson High School and he actually came from Grayson High School. He was a head coach and won a state championship in 2016. A lot of the hard work and everything that I’m used to by being at Grayson, he knows just about. It’s great.”

While Stone (5-11, 180) is listed as an Athlete, he practiced both ways for the Tigers. During the morning session, he worked with the receivers before heading over to work out with the defensive backs for the afternoon portion of events. 

Stone went on to say that Conn and Clemson wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham loved what he brought to the table and that he received great feedback from both coaches.

“The main thing what [Thursday] was about was, we know how they offer and stuff, but the main thing is just getting a relationship with the coaches,” Stone said. “I’m not really trying to rush the offer right now because I know when it’s time, it’ll come. The main part they were stressing was the relationship, which is great because you win with people just like Dabo Swinney.”

While it’s still early on in Stone’s recruitment and he doesn’t hold an official scholarship offer from Clemson, the Tigers have stood out thus far.

“Clemson is actually my dream school, so it was definitely a big day [on Thursday],” he said.

Stone already has a relationship with a lot of the players on the current Clemson roster. He listed off Tigers players like Dacari Collins, Nate Wiggins and Phil Mafah as those he’s already familiar with. Stone trains regularly at Westlake High School in Atlanta, where both Collins and Wiggins hail from. 

As for Mafah, he’s a graduate of Grayson, so he went to school with Stone and they played on the same team together. 

When it comes time for Stone to make a decision, albeit it may be a couple of years down the road, he’ll be looking at who he’s going to surround himself with at the next level.

“The main thing then is just going to be the people around me, like what kind of people do I have around me to get me to the next level and be a better man,” Stone said. “I think overall, that’s really going to determine where I go.”