Last weekend, Clemson played host to a big group of top targets in the 2023 class for the program’s second junior day of the year. This weekend, the Tigers are again set to welcome a slew of big-time prospects to Tiger Town.
While a bunch of standout class of 2023 prospects are expected to be on campus Saturday, the majority of headlining recruits slated to visit Saturday are rising juniors in the 2024 class.
Starting with the 2023 class, though, some of the headliners on the anticipated visitor list are Hickory (N.C.) four-star defensive end Rico Walker, Springdale (Md.) Flowers four-star defensive end Desmond Umeozulu, Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek four-star linebacker Jamal Anderson, Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett four-star linebacker Grant Godfrey and Alpharetta (Ga.) St. Francis four-star defensive back Branden Strozier.
Both Walker and Umeozulu hold offers from Clemson. Umeozulu received an offer from the Tigers on Jan. 24, while they offered Walker on Jan. 4.
“I was so happy. I was so excited,” Walker told The Clemson Insider after scoring the offer. “It was one of the offers that I was definitely wanting to have, for sure.”
This will mark Walker’s second visit to Clemson in three months, as he was previously on campus for the Tigers’ elite junior day Jan. 29. He also visited Clemson last October for the Florida State game.
Walker (6-4, 230) is the son of Ricardo Walker, a native of Darlington, S.C., who was a defensive tackle at Auburn in the 1990s. The younger Walker is ranked as high as the No. 14 defensive end and No. 120 overall prospect in the 2023 class by ESPN.
As for the 2024 class, a quartet of five-star prospects are planning to visit Saturday in Buford (Ga.) athlete KJ Bolden, Jefferson (Ga.) linebacker Sammy Brown, Roswell (Ga.) Centennial offensive lineman Daniel Calhoun and Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day quarterback Jadyn Davis.
TCI recently caught up with Bolden, who ranks as the nation’s No. 1 athlete and No. 9 overall prospect in the 2024 class, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.
“Last time I spoke with Coach (Tyler) Grisham, the receivers coach,” Bolden told TCI this past week. “He was just telling me about the culture and how Clemson doesn’t just offer anyone and how we have to wait until June 1 of our junior year for when they offer juniors.”
While Grisham has recently been in contact with Bolden, the Tigers have left it up to him to determine which position he’ll play at the next level. He’s not leaning one way or another; rather, he’d like to see how the next two years of his high school career go.
In addition to Clemson, Bolden is planning to visit Ohio State, Ole Miss, Alabama, Georgia, Michigan State and Penn State. He indicated that these upcoming visits are going to be very important for him. By the time his junior year rolls around, Bolden wants to narrow down his recruitment to eight to 10 schools.
Calhoun, meanwhile, is ranked as the No. 1 offensive tackle and No. 30 overall prospect in the 2024 class according to the 247Sports Composite, while Brown is tabbed as the No. 1 linebacker and No. 6 overall prospect in the class per the composite rankings.
Brown told TCI recently that he has been hearing from Clemson defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Wes Goodwin through Brown’s dad, Michael Brown, who is the associate head football coach at Jefferson.
“Just to keep working and keep getting better,” Sammy said of Goodwin’s message to him via his dad. “And to expect an offer as long as my grades stay up!”
“It’s really amazing to know that an offer from Clemson is coming,” he added. “That’s always been a historically great program and has always produced great linebackers!”
As for Davis (pictured above), he is ranked by 247Sports as the No. 1 overall prospect in the country for the 2024 class, regardless of position.
Clemson previously played host to Davis for the Wake Forest game last November. He also participated in the Dabo Swinney Camp last June.
TCI caught up with Davis at his high school last July.
“I like it a lot,” Davis said to TCI of Clemson. “You look at the quarterback tradition there with Tajh Boyd starting it off, then (Deshaun) Watson, then Trevor (Lawrence), and DJ (Uiagalelei), that’s a pretty heavy-hitting quarterback class right there. Coach (Brandon) Streeter’s proven that he knows how to develop quarterbacks for the next level. I like Clemson a lot.”
Among the many other top prospects in the 2024 class on Clemson’s expected guest list for Saturday, to name some, are Charlotte (N.C.) Charlotte Catholic four-star tight end Jack Larsen; Dorchester (S.C.) Woodland four-star offensive lineman Kam Pringle; Loganville (Ga.) Grayson four-star offensive lineman Waltclaire Flynn Jr.; Dillon (S.C.) four-star offensive lineman Josiah Thompson; Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton four-star wide receiver Debron Gatling; Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day four-star wide receiver Jordan Shipp; Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview four-star wide receiver Mike Matthews; Loganville (Ga.) Grayson four-star athlete Joseph Stone; Loganville (Ga.) Grayson four-star cornerback Zion Ferguson; Lagrange (Ga.) Troup County four-star linebacker Jaqualin Birdsong; and Lagrange (Ga.) Troup County four-star safety Noah Dixon.
As always, visitor lists like this one are fluid and subject to change. But as of the time this article was published, here is the full list of prospects TCI confirmed as expected visitors for this weekend:
Class of 2023:
Hoschton (Ga.) Mill Creek 4-star LB Jamal Anderson
Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett 4-star LB Grant Godfrey
Alpharetta (Ga.) St. Francis 4-star DB Branden Strozier
Springdale (Md.) Flowers 4-star DL Desmond Umeozulu
Hickory (N.C.) 4-star DL Rico Walker
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson 3-star LB Jalen Smith
Pfafftown (N.C.) Reagan 3-star DL Semaj Turner
Piedmont (S.C.) Wren 3-star DB Travon West
Faiburn (Ga.) Creekside 3-star CB Daiquan White
Greenville (S.C.) Christ Church Episcopal WR/CB BJ Atkins
Stone Mountain (Ga.) South Gwinnett LB Tymere Burton
Denver (N.C.) East Lincoln LB Ben Cutter
Fairburn (Ga.) Creekside OL/DL BJ Williams
Class of 2024:
Buford (Ga.) 5-star S/ATH KJ Bolden
Jefferson (Ga.) 5-star LB Sammy Brown
Roswell (Ga.) Centennial 5-star OL Daniel Calhoun
Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day 5-star QB Jadyn Davis
Lagrange (Ga.) Troup County 4-star LB Jaqualin Birdsong
Nashville (Tenn.) Ensworth 4-star LB Mason Curtis
Lagrange (Ga.) Troup County 4-star S Noah Dixon
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson 4-star CB Zion Ferguson
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson 4-star OL Waltclaire Flynn Jr.
Alpharetta (Ga.) Milton 4-star WR Debron Gatling
Lawrenceville (Ga.) Mountain View 4-star DL Justin Greene
Charlotte (N.C.) Charlotte Catholic 4-star TE Jack Larsen
Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview 4-star WR Mike Matthews
Dorchester (S.C.) Woodland 4-star OL Kam Pringle
Charlotte (N.C.) Providence Day 4-star WR Jordan Shipp
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson 4-star ATH Joseph Stone
Greensboro (N.C.) Grimsley 4-star WR Alex Taylor
Dillon (S.C.) 4-star OL Josiah Thompson
Greenville (S.C.) 3-star WR Mazeo Bennett
Mobile (Ala.) Mobile Christian 3-star LB Sterling Dixon
Leesburg (Va.) Tuscarora 3-star OL Fletcher Westphal
Loganville (Ga.) Grayson DL/TE Kylan Fox
Greenville (S.C.) OL Blake Franks
Cornelius (N.C.) Hough K Nolan Hauser
Greenville (S.C.) OL/DL Julius Tate
Class of 2025:
Opelika (Ala.) DL Malik Autry
Buford (Ga.) LB Jadon Perlotte
Lilburn (Ga.) Parkview OL Cortez Smith
Nashville (Tenn.) Ensworth DL Ethan Utley
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