This past Saturday, Clemson played host to a prospect from a familiar place. Norcross (Ga.) Greater Atlanta Christian School 2020 athlete Tyler Bride attended the Tigers’ season-opening win over Furman at Death Valley.

Clemson freshman cornerback Kyler McMichael hails from Greater Atlanta Christian, and Bride is one of his former teammates.

“We’re really close,” Bride said of his relationship with McMichael, a former four-star recruit. “He’s really like my older brother. Every time he comes home from Clemson, we hang out. He was here about two weeks ago whenever they were on a break from camp. We hung out, and we talk pretty much every other day… We have a great connection.”

Saturday’s visit marked Bride’s first to Clemson.

“I really enjoyed it,” he said. “It was just a great experience. When I got on the campus, I felt a lot of love from the coaches. I had a big talk with Coach (Mike) Reed for a long time and felt a great connection with him… It’s a great family environment up there.”

Bride (5-10, 180) plays cornerback, safety, nickelback and running back for Greater Atlanta Christian. He said Clemson cornerbacks coach Mike Reed is evaluating him as a corner/nickel.

“He was just telling me stuff to look for during the season, that he was watching me, watching my film and stuff,” Bride said. “He was giving that family vibe, just preaching Clemson, why Clemson is the place to be, why you should love Clemson… It was more about family — of course football, but it was more about family and how they take care of their kids, things like that.”

Along with Clemson, Bride said he is drawing interest from schools such as Northwestern, Vanderbilt, Duke, Cincinnati, Memphis, Georgia State and Georgia Southern. He is also planning to visit Georgia Southern, Florida, Florida State and Virginia Tech during the season.

The Tigers made a strong impression Saturday on Bride, who said it would be a “dream come true” to receive a scholarship offer from Clemson in the future.

“The atmosphere is great,” Bride said of what stood out to him about Clemson. “It’s not all about football there — they preach family, they preach love, brotherhood, education. And that’s my number one thing — education’s always first, then athletics. But everything was great up there and I just love it up there.”

Bride holds a 3.7 GPA at Greater Atlanta Christian and has been clocked at 4.5 seconds in the 40-yard dash. As a sophomore last season, he served as McMichael’s backup at running back, rushing 29 times for 226 yards (7.8 yards per carry) and four touchdowns. Defensively, he recorded 15 tackles and an interception that he returned 57 yards for a touchdown.