Clemson will welcome a fast-rising prospect from the Palmetto State to campus for the first time this weekend.
Local cornerback Andru Phillips from Mauldin, S.C., is set to attend the Tigers’ junior day function on Saturday. It will mark his first unofficial visit to Clemson.
“I’m excited to go up there and see everything, like the facilities and really how they do what they do,” Phillips told The Clemson Insider.
Phillips (6-0, 180) has seen his recruitment pick up steam quickly over the past few months, with scholarship offers coming in from Virginia Tech, NC State, Louisville, West Virginia and Tennessee, among others, since late January. Kentucky — where his father, Carlos, played football in the 1980s — was first to offer last June, followed by Wake Forest.
Clemson has not yet offered, though Phillips is getting attention from the Tigers and has been in consistent contact with cornerbacks coach Mike Reed as well as safeties coach Mickey Conn leading up to Saturday’s visit.
“They said they like how physical I play all the time and how I come with aggression,” Phillips said.
The interest between Phillips and Clemson is certainly mutual and he has heard nothing but good things about Dabo Swinney’s program.
“I know it’s special, how he got there and built it up. He’s built a dynasty,” Phillips said. “I’m really interested to go up there and see in-depth… You hear about it all over the place, how hard they work and all their great coaches. But I want to get up there and meet all of them and really get to see what goes into it all.”
Phillips visited NC State this past weekend and North Carolina the weekend prior. South Carolina, Kentucky, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest have played host to him recently as well.
Besides Clemson, Phillips doesn’t have any visits scheduled as of now but plans to see more schools this spring as he goes through the process of narrowing down his recruitment to his top three schools.
Phillips named Kentucky, Virginia Tech and NC State as a few schools he is really high on right now, and said he plans to make his decision on July 8.
Should the Tigers pull the trigger on an offer, they would figure to be firmly in the mix.
“They’ve talked a little bit about an offer, saying they really like me a lot,” Phillips said. “They said I’m toward the top of their board and all that. If I got an offer from them, it’d be amazing. I’d love it.”
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