As Clemson continues to extend its recruiting footprint in states like Texas, its made quite the impression on prospects around the country.

That can be said for Del Valle (Tx.) 2023 four-star WR Braylon James, who has come away quite impressed with what the Tigers and receivers coach Tyler Grisham has presented his way thus far. 

In every sense of the word, Clemson is just different.

“Honestly, I feel like out of all the schools I’ve made a connection with, I’ve made a real close, personal connection with Coach Grisham at Clemson,” James told The Clemson Insider. “We try and talk weekly, if not bi-weekly, but we’re always in constant connection.”

“I’m really enjoying this process and I really like Clemson a lot,” he added.

James (6-4, 185)  plans to visit Clemson on July 30, once the next live period starts. He’s been planning this visit for a while is thrilled for the chance to meet with Grisham face-to-face.

“I’m extremely excited,” James said. “We talk pretty frequently and we did two Zoom visits so far. Just being able to see the campus over a computer screen, was cool in itself, but being able to see it in person, would be huge for me. I’m just really excited about that.”

James has certainly taken notice of what Clemson’s capable of, not just at developing the wide receiver position, but becoming a national powerhouse over the past decade.

“Clemson has been one of the top teams in the whole entire nation, arguably one of the best teams in the nation this past decade,” he said. “Not only from a receiver standpoint but being an athlete or a football player in general. Just getting that opportunity [to be recruited by Clemson] is really huge and I’m just really grateful and blessed.”

As he becomes more familiar with WRU, James continues to receive positive feedback from Grisham. James is an atypical Clemson wide receiver, due to how physical he is, his size and versatility.

“He says he loves my physicality,” James said. “Clemson likes those bigger kinds of receivers, I’m on the bigger spectrum. I’m more of an outside guy. He really loves my size, he loves my ability to go up and make plays and grab the ball. He can see my athleticism, he said that I showcase that on my film. That’s some key things that stood out to him. He’s really high on me and I’m really high on him, as well.”

James is a pretty versatile wideout, who will have the opportunity to flash what he’s made of under Del Valle’s new head coach, Bobby Acosta. An entire new offensive scheme will be conducted under Acosta, who led IMG Academy, the nation’s No. 1 ranked high school football team, in 2020.

Grisham has been telling James for a while that he wants to get down to Texas to see him in person, that should be the case this coming season.

And as the two continue to build their relationship, it’s evident to James that Clemson ranks high on his personal list.

“I don’t really have top schools or anything like that,” he said, “but I can see just based off the relationship I’m building with them right now, I feel like if we keep this up, they could potentially be a huge contender for me in my recruitment process. I’m just loving it. I just can’t wait to get done there, honestly.”

James knows he has to be patient and willing to put in the work. Even the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) American Heritage 2023 five-star Brandon Inniss had to come up to Clemson and work out, just to receive.

“It’s evident that they operate differently, they give everyone the same treatment and that’s what I like,” James added. “They make people work for it.”

Before making his way down to Clemson next month, James has already been around the block this summer. He went on a West Coast tour of visits, traveling to Stanford, USC and Cal, Berkeley. He’s also been to TCU, Ohio State, Texas and LSU.

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