Clemson officially welcomed members of its 2024 recruiting class on Wednesday morning upon opening of the NCAA early signing period. The early signing period will conclude on Friday, Dec. 22 in advance of National Signing Day on Feb. 7, 2024.
Included below are the program’s latest additions, roster bios and overall class notes, as well as Head Coach Dabo Swinney’s press conference that streamed live on ClemsonPlus.com.
Tampa, Fla. // Carrollwood Day School
Ballhawk who recorded eight interceptions as a senior
Commerce, Ga. // Jefferson HS
“Freak” athlete who is a consensus Top 30 player nationally
Cornelius, N.C. // William A. Hough HS
National high school record-holder for field goals made (66)
Wesley Chapel, Fla. // Jesuit HS
Recorded 216 tackles in 46 career games at Jesuit HS in Tampa
Acworth, Ga. // North Cobb HS
Highly productive running back coming off of explosive senior season
Warner Robins, Ga. // Peach County HS
Three-time all-state selection in Georgia
Frederick, Md. // Our Lady of Good Counsel
Emerged as a first-team All-WCAC pick as a senior at Good Counsel
Key West, Fla. // Tampa Catholic HS
Prolific Florida receiver ranked in the national top 100
Columbia, S.C. // Pace Academy (Ga.)
Four-time all-region and all-state honoree in Georgia
Gainesville, Ga. // Gainesville HS
Stout interior presence who helped Gainesville to a 12-1 record in 2023
Rome, Ga. // Rome HS
Decorated defensive back coming off an all-state season at Georgia’s 6A level
York, Pa. // Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.)
Top 150 prospect who recorded 13 sacks en route to a state title in 2023
LaGrange, Ga. // Troup County HS
Reigning Region 4A Athlete of the Year in Georgia
Clemson, S.C. // D.W. Daniel HS
Becomes Clemson Football’s first fourth-generation Tiger on record
Palm Bay, Fla. // Heritage HS
Long Florida edge rusher who was an All-Space Coast selection in 2023
Franklin, Tenn. // Page HS
Powered Tennessee’s Page HS to three straight title game berths
Tallahassee, Fla. // Florida State University HS
Versatile athlete who contributed at both DB and WR in high school
Midlothian, Texas // Midlothian HS
Explosive Texas wideout ranked among the top 35 prospects nationally
Fort Worth, Texas // Lancaster HS
National top 100 prospect out of the Lone Star State
Lakemoor, Ill. // Marian Central Catholic
National Top 125 player who is Dabo Swinney’s first signee from Illinois
Hamilton, Va. // Loudoun Valley HS
Four-year starter and two-time team captain from Northern Virginia
Rienzi, Miss. // Bradwell Institute (Ga.)
Versatile four-star offensive lineman selected to multiple all-star games
Greenville, S.C. // Greer HS
Chose to walk on at Clemson over scholarship offers from Maryland, Columbia, Yale and others
Dabo Swinney National Signing Day Press Conference
RANKINGS REPORT– Clemson’s class includes 11 members of the Rivals250: TE Christian Bentancur, LB Sammy Brown, DT Hevin Brown-Shuler, S Noah Dixon, RB David Eziomume, CB Tavoy Feagin, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, DE Darien Mayo, WR T.J. Moore and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.– Ten members of the class were listed among On3’s Top 300: TE Christian Bentancur, LB Sammy Brown, RB David Eziomume, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, DE Adam Kissayi, DE Darien Mayo, WR T.J. Moore, OL Elyjah Thurmon and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.– The class also includes nine members of the ESPN300: TE Christian Bentancur, LB Sammy Brown, DT Hevin Brown-Shuler, S Noah Dixon, CB Tavoy Feagin, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, WR T.J. Moore and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.– The group features seven selections to the 247Sports Top247: TE Christian Bentancur, LB Sammy Brown, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, DE Darien Mayo, WR T.J. Moore and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.– To date, every signing class in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure except for its 2023 class has won at least one ACC Championship. Nine straight classes from 2012-20 earned at least one College Football Playoff berth.– Entering this year, Clemson’s recruiting classes finished in the top 15 of at least one primary recruiting service (ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports) every year since 2011. Clemson was one of only seven schools to produce a Top 15 class in each of the previous 13 recruiting cycles, a group that also includes Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Clemson will attempt to extend that streak with its 2024 class when rankings are finalized in February.– To date, every signing class in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure except for his 2023 class has won at least one ACC Championship. Nine straight classes from 2012-20 earned at least one College Football Playoff berth.
ILLINOIS INCOMING– Clemson’s signing of TE Christian Betancur out of Marian Central Catholic in Illinois represents Clemson’s first signing from the Land of Lincoln since 2006.– Betancur becomes Clemson’s first signee from Illinois in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure.– Outside of signing exclusively from existing pipelines in 2021 and 2023, Swinney has added at least one new state in eight cycles from 2015-24: Illinois in 2024; Utah in 2022; Kentucky in 2020; California, Michigan and Pennsylvania in 2019; Missouri in 2018; Indiana and Louisiana in 2017; Colorado, Kansas and Texas in 2016; and Massachusetts in 2015.– Since 1972, Clemson has signed student-athletes to football scholarships from 36 states, the District of Columbia and Canada.
ANOTHER PEACH OF A CLASS– Eight of Clemson’s 22 signees played high school football in Georgia: LB Sammy Brown (Jefferson HS), DT Hevin Brown-Shuler (Pace Academy), S Noah Dixon (Troup County HS), RB David Eziomume (North Cobb), S Ricardo Jones (Peach County HS), DT Champ Thompson (Gainesville HS), OL Elyjah Thurmon (Bradwell Institute) and S Joe Wilkinson (Rome HS).– The signing of the 2024 class represents the 11th time in the last 12 cycles that Clemson has signed at least five players from the Peach State.– Clemson’s 30 signees from Georgia since 2020 are its most from any state this decade.– Barring substantial unexpected additions from other states prior to Signing Day in February, Georgia will produce the most players of any state in Clemson’s signing class for the fifth time in the last six years and the seventh time in the last nine years.
MORE SUNSHINE SUCCESS– Five of Clemson’s signees hail from Florida: CB Tavoy Feagin (Carrollwood Day School), CB Ashton Hampton (Florida State University HS), DE Adam Kissayi (Heritage HS), TJ Moore (Tampa Catholic) and Drew Woodaz (Jesuit HS).– Clemson has signed 26 players from Florida in the last six years. Clemson has now signed multiple players from Florida in six straight classes for the first time since the 1992-97 recruiting cycles.– Clemson’s five Florida signees are its most in a single class since 2019 (seven).
ANOTHER TEXAS TWO-STEP– Clemson signed two players from the state of Texas: WR Bryant Wesco Jr. (Midlothian) and CB Corian Gipson (Lancaster).– After signing only one player from Texas from 2004-19, Clemson has now signed at least one player from Texas in five consecutive classes, the Tigers’ longest streak on record. Clemson signed S R.J. Mickens in 2020, S Andrew Mukuba in 2021, QB Cade Klubnik in 2022 and a trio of Texas players in 2023: WR Noble Johnson, OL Harris Sewell and OL Ian Reed.– For the first time on record, Clemson has signed multiple players from Texas in back-to-back classes.– Clemson’s eight signees from Texas this decade exceed its number of total Texas signees across the previous five decades (seven across the 1970s-2010s).
NO WAITING FOR CLEMSON IN THE DMV– Clemson signed three players who played their prep careers in the D.C./Maryland/Virginia metro area, a region known colloquially by locals as the “DMV.” This year’s trio includes LB CJ Kubah-Taylor (Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Md.), DE Darien Mayo (Our Lady of Good Counsel in Olney, Md.) and OL Mason Wade (Loudoun Valley in Purcellville, Va.).– Clemson has now signed at least one player from the greater Washington, D.C. area (including adjacent Maryland and Virginia counties) in five out of its last six classes.– LB Darien Mayo and LB CJ Kubah-Taylor attended Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Olney, Md., the same school as LB Dorian O’Daniel, who became a 2017 All-ACC selection at Clemson and a Super Bowl champion with the Kansas City Chiefs.– The signings of Mayo and Kubah-Taylor gave Clemson multiple Maryland signees in a single class for the first time since signing Baltimore’s Kevin Kreis and Wheaton’s Bob McCarthy. Of note, McCarthy also attended Good Counsel, the same school that produced Mayo and Kubah-Taylor.– The signing of OL Mason Wade (Purcellville, Va.) gave Clemson a signee from Virginia for the fifth time in the last six years. Clemson had one Virginia signee in every class from 2019-22.
LOCAL TIES– The addition of OL Watson Young from Daniel High School in Central, S.C. gives Clemson one signee from Daniel in each of the last three cycles, joining the signings of DE Jahiem Lawson in 2022 and ATH Misun Kelley in 2023.– With Young’s addition, Clemson once again signed a pair of high school teammates over a multi-year cycle. In 2020 and 2021, Clemson signed teammates out of St. John Bosco High School in California (D.J. Uiagalelei in 2020, Beaux Collins in 2021) and Damascus High School in Maryland (Bryan Bresee in 2020, Ryan Linthicum in 2021). Clemson signed teammates from Central High School in Phenix City, Ala. three straight years from 2018-20 (Justyn Ross in 2018, Ray Thornton in 2019, E.J. Williams in 2020), and the Tigers signed players from Dutch Fork High School in Irmo, S.C. in three straight classes from 2021-23 (Will Taylor in 2021, Antonio Williams in 2022 and Jarvis Green in 2023).– Daniel has produced a number of recent Tigers who have gone on to lengthy NFL careers, including DT Jarvis Jenkins (2007 signee), WR DeAndre Hopkins (2010), DT DeShawn Williams (2011) and DE Shaq Lawson (2012) among many other Daniel products who have contributed in either scholarship and walk-on roles at Clemson.
FAMILY CONNECTIONS– OL Watson Young (Clemson, S.C.) is the son of Kyle Young. Kyle was a multi-time All-American both on the field and in the classroom, earning on-field All-America honors at center in 2000 and 2001 and matching those honors with Academic All-America status in both years. Kyle is now a Senior Associate Athletic Director at Clemson.– Young is also the nephew of former Clemson offensive lineman Will Young and the grandson of Clemson letterman Ben Watson. Young’s great grandfather, Ed McLendon, was a member of the 1939 Clemson team that earned the program’s first bowl appearance and first bowl win in the 1940 Cotton Bowl.– Young will become the first fourth-generation Clemson football player on record.– Young is the third son of a former Clemson letter-winner to sign with the Tigers in the last six cycles, joining TE Josh Sapp (2022 signee, son of Patrick Sapp) and WR Brannon Spector (2019 signee, son of WR Robbie Spector).– PK Nolan Hauser is the son of former Clemson women’s soccer player and Clemson Athletic Hall of Famer Sheri Hauser (née Beuter) and former Clemson baseball player Scott Hauser. Sheri played on Clemson’s inaugural women’s soccer team in 1994 and the U.S. National Team in 1998, and she remains the school recordholder for both single-season and career assists.– Hauser’s sister, Ella, just completed her junior season on the Clemson women’s soccer team that qualified for the national semifinal of the 2023 Women’s College Cup.– LB Drew Woodaz is the brother of current Clemson LB Wade Woodaz.
BRING A FRIEND– With the additions of high school teammates Darien Mayo and CJ Kubah-Taylor out of Our Lady of Good Counsel High School in Maryland, Clemson has signed at least one pair of high school teammates in five out of its last seven classes.– 2024: Our Lady of Good Counsel (Md.) HS (Darien Mayo and CJ Kubah-Taylor)– 2023: N/A– 2022: Greenville (S.C.) HS (Collin Sadler and Josh Sapp)– 2021: Westlake (Ga.) HS (Dacari Collins and Nate Wiggins)– 2020: N/A– 2019: Archer (Ga.) HS (Andrew Booth Jr. and Jalyn Phillips)– 2018: South Pointe (S.C.) HS (Derion Kendrick and B.T. Potter); IMG (Fla.) Academy (Mike Jones Jr. and Xavier Thomas)
GEOGRAPHIC BREAKDOWN– Members of Clemson’s signing class completed their prep careers across nine states: Georgia (eight), Florida (five), Texas (two), Maryland (two), South Carolina (one), Illinois (one), North Carolina (one), Tennessee (one) and Virginia (one).
POSITION BREAKDOWNRB: 1; WR: 2; TE: 1; OL: 4; DE: 2; DT: 2; LB: 3; CB: 3; S: 3; PK: 1
