A five-star prospect per most recruiting services, Sammy Brown comes to Tiger Town ranked as high as the No. 12 overall player in the 2024 class by ESPN, which touts him as the country’s No. 1 linebacker.

ESPN analyst/national recruiting director Tom Luginbill is certainly high on Brown, the do-it-all athlete from Jefferson (Ga.) High School who signed with Clemson in December and enrolled early this month.

Luginbill praised Brown in an appearance on ACC Network, saying “pound for pound, he might be the best overall football player in the (2024) class.”

“And I say that because he starts at tailback, he plays H-back and tight end, he can play both the inside and outside linebacker spot, he can rush the passer,” Luginbill said. “He’s just a jack-of-all-trades type of football player. And I think the best way to describe him is, he’s not a linebacker, he’s not a tailback – he’s a football player.”

An all-state selection each of his last three seasons at Jefferson, Brown amassed 153 tackles, 12 tackles for loss, three blocked kicks and two interceptions as a senior. He posted outstanding numbers as a running back during his prep career as well, finishing with 4,491 rushing yards and 68 rushing touchdowns.

The highly decorated Brown was named the nation’s top all-around athlete by MaxPreps for his success in football, wrestling and track, and was named as the No. 1 “Freak Athlete” in the nation by 247Sports. He received the 2023 High School Butkus Award, presented each year to the top high school linebacker in the nation, and also won the All-American Bowl’s Defensive Player of the Year award among other honors.

Luginbill added that “if you went into your chemistry lab and you started putting all these ingredients into your little beaker, you’d probably come out with a Sammy Brown.”

“To me, those guys, especially when they’re talented, they’re your hardest workers,” Luginbill said. “They become the model that your program is. They’re the guy that everybody strives to become.”