Among the thousands of high school athletes who made the trip to Clemson for the program’s annual summer camps was one athlete who has a special connection the the Tigers’ head man.

JJ Mauk was a high school teammate of current Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney at Pelham (AL). Now, his son Brooks is a recruit trying to earn a scholarship offer from his father’s long-time friend, but he does not expect any handouts.

“Their relationship doesn’t really affect my recruitment at all,” Mauk said. “Everything is earned at Clemson.”

The 6-foot-4, 215-pound tight end has received interest from a number of Division I programs, but has not received any offers after suffering an injury last season. Now that his leg has healed, Mauk is focused on boosting his recruitment.

“It’s always great seeing Coach (Kyle) Richardson and the rest of the coaching staff,” Mauk said. “They keep encouraging me to stay the course and continue rehabbing and coming back from the broken leg last year. I think I surprised a lot of people by how I was able to move.”

This year was not Mauk’s first trip to Clemson, as he made the trip to Clemson’s camp last season. Mauk and his father were thoroughly impressed by what they saw on both trips.

“Camp was awesome, as always,” Mauk said. “This year, I attended the morning session on Saturday. There were some great players out there, and it was fun to compete.”

Mauk is currently in the process of scheduling an official visit to Clemson at some point this fall.