Entering his visit to Clemson last Saturday for the program’s elite junior day, Drew Woodaz didn’t yet have an offer from the Tigers.

That changed before he left campus, though, when Woodaz went into Dabo Swinney’s office. It was there that Clemson’s head coach pulled the trigger on an offer to the talented linebacker from Jesuit High School (Tampa, Fla.).

“It was towards the end of the (elite) retreat is what they were calling it,” Woodaz said in an interview with The Clemson Insider, regarding how the offer went down. “But it was towards the end as we were leaving, and Coach Wes (defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Wes Goodwin) said, ‘Alright, let’s go to Coach Dabo’s office and we gotta have a meeting with him.’ And so I was like, ‘Oh, alright.’ We went in there. He came out and then he told us about how they’ve only offered 42 kids in the class, and then now it’s 43 and that they’d like to offer me.”

Woodaz, a 6-foot-3, 190-pound prospect in the 2024 class, was overwhelmed by emotions upon receiving the offer from Swinney.

“I was like nervous and shocked,” he said. “I was feeling a whole bunch of emotions at the same time. It was a crazy moment for me.”

Woodaz is of course the younger brother of Clemson rising sophomore linebacker Wade Woodaz, and Swinney would love to have another Woodaz on his team in Drew.

“He said if one Woodaz is good, why not have two?” Drew said. “He said they love our family and the way we play and just the way we act and the way we lead.”

Wade is certainly happy about his sibling’s new scholarship offer and the opportunity they now have to play together as Tigers in the future.

“He wants me to go there obviously because he’s my brother and he wants to play with me again,” Drew said. “But I think I’m going to still view all my options, see what I have. But he couldn’t be more excited and proud. That’s the kind of guy he is.”

As for his experience during Saturday’s elite junior day, Drew had a great time and enjoyed getting to know other Clemson recruits in the 2024 class.

“It was fun. I loved it,” he said. “Met a lot of new people. They’re big-time recruits in my class and the kids that they want, so it was good to meet them and build relationships with them.”

Clemson joined a slew of other schools that have offered Drew, including Vanderbilt, Missouri, Oklahoma, Louisville, Pittsburgh, Virginia Tech, Wake Forest, Cincinnati, USF and others.

The Tigers, as you’d expect, are high on his list after throwing their hat in the ring with an offer.

“They’re definitely up there,” he said. “It’s a prestigious school – great coaches, great role models. They’re definitely up there. It’s just a great program all-around.”

While Drew would ideally like to make a commitment before his upcoming senior year, he’s not going to rush the process and wouldn’t have a problem pushing that timeline back if he needs to.

“If that doesn’t happen and it gets postponed or delayed or anything, then it’ll be perfectly fine,” he said, “and I’ll just make my decision when I feel the time is right.”

Drew has said in the past that teaming up with Wade at Clemson would be a dream come true for them.

What does it mean to Drew, knowing that he now has the chance to make that dream a reality in the future?

“It’s just crazy that we have that opportunity,” he said, “and it’ll be awesome if it happens.”

Dear Old Clemson has added the Tiger Sack Pack to our online store.  Save by getting the Two Pack of signed cards from two of the nation’s top defensive ends, Myles Murphy and Xavier Thomas.

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