Ekene Ogboko picked up one of Clemson’s opening offers last weekend.

The 5-star OL (South Garner, Durham, NC) now has close to two dozen in total now, with some of the more prominent schools in the country in pursuit, including Georgia, Alabama, Florida State, Notre Dame and Penn State.

However, with how the Tigers go about the recruiting process, Ogboko said the offer from Clemson felt a little different.

“It definitely holds a lot of meaning,” Ogboko told The Clemson Insider. “Not just anybody gets an offer from Clemson. “I’m definitely blessed. I thank God for that. Clemson is not an easy offer just to get. I definitely feel grateful and blessed for that.”

Ogboko was last on campus back in March for the Elite Junior Day and it gave him an opportunity to have some face time with head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive line coach Matt Luke.

“It was good, I had a great time,” he said. “Got to see a spring practice. My first time seeing coach Luke, seeing his energy. Getting to talk to Dabo about school. It was just a good time being there.”

That visit also gave him an up-close look at Luke’s style of coaching.

“I definitely saw he was high energy, great guy,” Ogboko said. “He was running, jumping, he was hype. It was good, just an overall great guy.”

Ogboko is considered one of the top players in the 2026 recruiting class, regardless of position. The 6-foot-6, 280-pound recruit ranks No. 18 overall in the 247 Composite and No. 4 among all tackle prospects. He plans to be back in Clemson on Saturday to work out at camp.

Notre Dame, NC State, Georgia, South Carolina, Tennessee and Penn State are some of the other schools Ogboko said he is hearing from the most these days, and over the next few months the blue-chip talent is going through the process of trying to find what program can develop him best. On and off the field.

“First of all, I want the right fit,” Ogboko said. “To make sure that I fit in with the whole culture and the offensive line room and everybody there. Fitting in with the team. Also how I get developed, how the coaches will develop me. Then just coach and player relationship. Having that trust in my coach, that he can take me to I want to be, which is the NFL. Develop me stuff like that, everything I’ve seen it. I want to school that can get me to the NFL and also want a winning culture.”

Photo courtesy of Ekene Ogboko on X (formerly known as Twitter)

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