Among the half-dozen defensive line prospects that Clemson played host to for the program’s elite junior day on Jan. 28 was Malik Blocton.

“It was really fun getting to spend time with all the coaches,” he told The Clemson Insider.

The class of 2024 recruit from Pike Road (Ala.) High School made the trip to Tiger Town with his mother and little sister.

“They came and they loved it,” Blocton said. “They were up there with me the last time I came up, but yeah, they really enjoyed being up there.”

Blocton had previously visited Clemson for the Syracuse game in October, when he collected an offer from the Tigers while on campus.

The 6-foot-3, 270-pound junior cited the customary visit photoshoot, and hanging out at Dabo Swinney’s house, as the highlights of the elite junior day experience a couple of weekends ago.

“I was really like playing basketball in his court most of the time,” Blocton said of what he enjoyed the most at Swinney’s house. “So, that was really fun.”

During the elite junior day, Blocton spent the most time with defensive tackles coach Nick Eason.

The two have a longstanding relationship, as Blocton received an offer from Auburn via Eason back in October 2021 when Eason was still on the coaching staff there, and it was Eason who conveyed Clemson’s offer to Blocton when he was on campus for the Syracuse game.

Eason also recruited and coached Blocton’s older brother, current Auburn defensive lineman Marcus Harris.

“Me and Coach Eason, we’ve had a strong relationship, so our conversations weren’t really about football,” Blocton said of what he heard from Eason during the elite junior day. “They were really just about life and how we were doing, stuff like that.”

Blocton expects to return to Clemson this summer for an official visit. He intends to use all of his official visits before rendering a commitment decision, which he said will likely come sometime during his senior football season.

Along with Clemson, there are a bunch of schools that Blocton feels are most heavily pursuing him at this point in the recruiting process.

“Auburn, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Tennessee, South Carolina and Kentucky are probably coming after me the hardest right now,” he said.

Blocton was already high on Clemson entering the elite junior day, but is even higher on the Tigers coming out of it.

“This visit definitely bumped them up,” he said when asked if the visit helped the Tigers’ chances with him. “They were already really high on my list, but it really like boosted them up.”

Blocton is coming off a strong junior campaign, during which he accumulated 109 total tackles (70 solo), 12 sacks and two strip-sacks.

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.

Now there is a new way you can support Clemson student-athletes. Purchase collectibles from Dear Old Clemson and the proceeds with go to support Clemson student-athletes. 

Dear Old Clemson is doing NIL the ‘Clemson way’, but we need your help to make sure we build a sustainable, repeatable model that will help keep Clemson competitive with the other top programs around the nation.

Dabo Swinney: “We need your assistance more than ever to provide meaningful NIL opportunities. Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives allow student-athletes to utilize their voice and platform to maximize their NIL opportunities and strengthen their impact in the community.”

Graham Neff:
“Tiger Impact, Dear Old Clemson and other collectives need your support to help provide meaningful NIL opportunities for our student athletes. We are doing things the right way, the Clemson way with integrity as a non-negotiable and we fully support the mission of these groups.”

Join the Tiger Club or Lady Tiger Club to help these great student-athletes and help the Tigers compete at the highest level!