Copyright Charleston Post and Courier
Clemson is not only losing games, the Tigers are also losing pledges for their 2026 signing class. Last Monday, safety Blake Stewart of College Park, Ga., broke his pledge he made July 13. He has been projected to Miami by Steve Wiltfong of Rivals. On Wednesday, the Tigers lost a pledge from DT Keshawn Stancil of Clayton, N.C., as he announced his intent to sign with Miami. Stancil had given his pledge to the Tigers in late June over N.C. State, Penn State, Georgia and Miami. His defection leaves Clemson with 20 pledges. These two join DE Dre Quinn as three defensive players who have decided not to follow through with their announced plans to sign with Clemson. Clemson did have more prospects on campus Saturday for the Duke game. Their newest pledge, LB Brayden Reilly of Cincinnati, was in for his official visit. Some of the others indicated plans to visit Clemson Saturday: 2028 QB Trace Hawkins of Calhoun, Ga.; 2028 DT Chase Foster of Hampton, Ga.; 2027 WR Nick Gordon of Cheraw; 2028 RB Michael Martin of Christ Church; 2028 TE Merrick Hams of Marietta, Ga.; 2028 QB Chris Miller of Kennesaw, Ga. • Clemson is taking notice of 2028 DT RJ Cruz (6-3, 270) of Owings Mills, MD and his rising national profile. Cruz has seen several top programs take an early interest in his recruitment, with Penn State, Maryland, Florida State and North Carolina being some of the top schools to throw an offer his way. Cruz was on campus for Clemson’s matchup with SMU and got to spend some time with the recruiting staff and Nick Eason, who relayed some positive things that helped make his visit an incredibly positive one. One of the items that surprised the Maryland native was the low number of prospects on hand for Saturday’s clash against SMU, which made the defender feel like a top priority over the weekend. “I’m very impressed with Clemson,” Cruz said. “The fans were electric, and the stadium was special. I was very surprised with the fact that there were only 60 recruits. Clemson is very selective and made me feel like a high priority during the visit.” The volume of high-caliber schools will increase as the season goes on, with Cruz planning visits with several more P4 programs. “So far FSU, Penn State, Tennessee, and Maryland have been catching my eye and have been the most active in recruiting, but Clemson is hopefully in the mix now,” he explained. “I’m planning on going to visits at Tennessee, Ohio State, Notre Dame, Kentucky and Indiana.” Cruz is just getting his relationship with Clemson started, and the Tigers are rapidly moving up his list of top schools. He intends to be back in the spring and is looking forward to developing his relationship with the Tigers’ staff. “I definitely have plans to go back to Clemson,” the 2028 prospect stated. “They are very high on my list. Most likely it’ll be in the spring. As you know, Clemson takes their time giving offers, so I fully expect to earn one in the future and continue a strong relationship.” Through six games this season, Cruz was credited with 15 tackles, three tackles for loss and two sacks. South Carolina South Carolina continues its work to beef up the offensive line for 2026, and the Gamecocks are bringing in OT David Conner (6-6, 307) of Andrew College in Cuthbert, Ga. Conner posted on social media that he will take an official visit to USC on Nov. 22. Conner actually grew up in the Holly Hill area, but he went to high school in Decatur, Ga., before graduating from Deerfield Beach High in Florida. Conner signed with Florida as a 270-pounder in 2022. He entered the transfer portal in April of 2023 and landed at Colorado. A year later he entered the portal again and moved on to Texas State in May of 2024. Last December, he portaled again and ended up at the junior college. Now, Conner has emerged as a major recruiting target again. He has picked up offers from Auburn and Arkansas this month, along with the involvement with South Carolina. Conner will be a December enrollee. • South Carolina was listed in a story by Rivals as down for an official visit from RB Messiah Mickens of Harrisburg, Pa. Mickens is a former Penn State pledge who backed off that following the firing of head coach James Franklin earlier in October. The story also listed Oklahoma, Georgia, Missouri, Miami and Indiana as other official visit stops for Mickens. Mickens has taken official visits to Penn State, Notre Dame and North Carolina. A knee injury sidelined Mickens for much of the season. He returned to action about two weeks ago. • 2027 DT Jaden Wuerth of Dutch Fork visited South Carolina for the last two home games. He talked some with head coach Shane Beamer along with fill-in defensive line coach Jordan Dove. The conversations went well, and Wuerth enjoyed the visits. So, what’s the Gamecock’s positioning with him in the big picture of his recruitment? “Pretty high on them,” Wuerth said. “They are still close to home, and I feel like it’s a good program. They develop D-linemen well. I feel like they are good coaches. They are pretty high up there for me.” The proximity thing, Wuerth said, is a big deal to him. “That’s in their favor for sure,” he said. “I know my family would for me to be close so they could come watch the games. Definitely helps.” With Travian Robertson out while recovering from his car crash injuries, Dove has been handling Wuerth’s recruiting for USC. “Coach Dove has been loving my film so far this year,” Wuerth said. “He’s been seeing that me and Julian have been dominating guys.” Wuerth has also been to games this season at Clemson, Georgia Tech and N.C. State. He’s planning to go to Duke the end of November, and he might get to a game at Miami. He’s not formed a top list at this point, but that will come as his process continues. • Long and powerful defensive ends always catch the eye of USC defensive ends coach Sterling Lucas. For the Alabama game, he had one of the apples of his eye in for a visit in 2027 DE Success Nwabude (6-7, 245). It was the first visit to Columbia for the heavily recruited Nwabude, whose brother, Godslove Nwabude, is a basketball player at Eastern Michigan. “The visit was great. The staff was amazing. Got to see the players prepare for the game,” Nwabude said. “My main takeaway from the whole thing was most of the edge rushers were above 6-4, 6-5. That kind of speaks to me in some kind of way because I’m a tall end myself.” Beamer had a quick word with Nwabude before the game. He talked more with Lucas. “They just gave me a couple of words of encouragement to keep on improving and working on my game,” Nwabude said. “Coach Lucas, we kind of have a little relationship. He communicates with me most times through my father, so it’s a family type thing. I’m cool with him. I love what they’re doing.” And what does Lucas say he likes about Nwabude’s attributes as a defensive end? “Obviously, my height and length. He just sees a whole lot of potential in me,” Nwabude said. “I really like it because I think what he sees is kind of different from what other people see. He just has something special he sees in me. I really can’t wait till the time I make my decision. Maybe I might work with him. South Carolina is definitely going to be up there when it’s all done.” Nwabude has also been to nearby Georgia for a couple of games this season, along with Florida State twice, Georgia Tech, Tennessee and Alabama. All but Alabama have offered. He also has offers from Maryland and UNLV. Nwabude said there’s no favorites list for him yet. He plans to take more visits in January and official visits in the spring and summer. He confirmed that South Carolina would get one of his official visits. He said he’s going to take a break for the time being and stay off the road since he’s been traveling so much. Clemson/USC One of the state’s top 2027 prospects, RB Aiden Gibson (6-1, 203) of Woodruff, made a return visit to Williams-Brice Stadium to take in the South Carolina battle with Alabama. That was his second visit to watch the Gamecocks in Columbia, but the third time he’s seen them in person this season. He was in Atlanta for the season-opening win over Virginia Tech. Head coach Shane Beamer and running backs coach Marquel Blackwell have made Gibson one of their primary running back targets for the 2027 class, and they made him feel like a priority on the most recent visit. “Everything was perfect. They always show me love when I’m there,” Gibson said. “I really watch the way they recruit other players, and how they recruit me also. They treat everybody the same, just as if they were on the team. I saw a couple of bad plays happen, and I just loved the way they coached the kids up after everything happened. They just kept fighting no matter what. It’s just the culture of that team and the culture of the players and the coaches that everybody leads by example. That’s something that I’m really big on at my school. We’re taught on culture. Coach Black and Coach Beamer and the whole coaching staff are recruiting me very hard. I had a fun time being back around there.” Blackwell sees a running back in Gibson who could be deployed in a variety of ways. “Coach Black tells me I’m an all-around back,” Gibson said. “I can get out of the backfield, go to empty, catch some balls. He was telling me about my route running and things that I can like that, and I could help the team out potentially. And the way that I make big runs and have my eyes open. He was telling me to stay healthy and that he’s just going to keep on recruiting me hard. That’s what I love about him. Me and him had a good time laughing at jokes and everything.” Along with USC, Gibson also has offers from Tennessee, Maryland, Florida State, Indiana, Rutgers, Georgia Tech, N.C. State, Virginia Tech, Florida and others. The Gamecocks have been a mainstay throughout his recruitment, and last weekend’s visit put them on his pending short list. “They are definitely in my top 10, top 12, that I’m going to drop probably a little after my season ends,” Gibson said. “They are losing a couple of games and stuff like that, but I still believe in the culture of that team. I’m not going anywhere, and they won’t go anywhere out of my top 10. I’m not worried about anything else, I’m just worried about where I know I can go and play, and how hard they show me love and recruit me really hard.” Clemson is looming with Gibson. Tigers running backs coach CJ Spiller visited him last month at school during the Tigers’ open date. “It was great talking to him. We talked for a few minutes. He was just checking up on me and my family. He’s keeping up with me,” Gibson said. “Me and him are actually in touch now. Me and him are starting to talk a lot more now. I’m just ready to see where that goes. Hopefully, I plan on going to one of their games before it’s over with. I think he’s real interested in me.” Gibson has also been to games this season at Tennessee and Georgia Tech. He is planning to visit Maryland and Appalachian State in November, and Indiana and Rutgers later on down the road. • 2027 OT Nate Carson of Irmo continues to land major offers with Clemson coming in late last month. “I’m blessed. I’m thankful. It’s all God,” Carson said. “I already knew it was going to happen because I went to the camp in the summer, and the only thing they needed was my transcript. That’s why they didn’t offer me in the summer. So, I already knew it was going to happen. It was just a matter of waiting to receive the call. Coach Matt Luke, I have a great relationship with him. I love him. One of my favorite O-line coaches that’s recruiting right now. He called me, told me everything got through, and he offered me.” Carson has a very good feel for Clemson and Luke. He visited last spring for a practice, last June for a summer camp and for the LSU game in August. And through his trainer, he also has a connection to Luke and the Tigers. “I work out with the same trainer as his O-linemen, so I worked out with the Clemson O-line like Blake (Miller). We all have the same trainer,” Carson said. “What he does is what the trainer also does, so I’m already doing stuff at the high school that they are going to be doing at Clemson. He said he loves my body, my feet. He said I have great feet. He said I just fit Clemson perfectly.” South Carolina is also a major player with Carson. He was back at Williams-Brice Stadium for a second time this season for the Alabama game. “It went great, honestly. I loved it,” Carson said. “I like USC more and more every time I go out there. It wasn’t a surprise that I was going to like it. I see the O-linemen getting better. That’s what stood out to me. They got better this week. I wish they had come out with the win. It was great. I love South Carolina.” Carson has had to adjust to his recruitment by South Carolina due to the change in the offensive line coaches from Lonnie Teasley to Shawn Elliott. Carson said that’s had no impact on his feelings toward the Gamecocks. “Not at all,” he said. “I have relationships with the whole coaching staff. It’s so unfortunate what happened with Coach Teasley because we also had a great relationship. But things happen, and I have to move on.” Carson has also been to Alabama for the Tennessee game, and he will visit Nebraska this Saturday. The only other game visit he is certain of is the Clemson at USC game on Nov. 29. Carson said he is working on a top 12 and talking with his parents about that. He’ll be releasing that list in the near future. Notes • Clemson offered 2027 WR DJ Huggins (5-11, 165) of Kennesaw, Ga. He also has offers from Memphis, UNLV, Georgia State, Kennesaw State and FAU. • 2027 CB Aamaury Fountain of Warner Robins, Ga., who has an offer from South Carolina and interest from Clemson, was offered by Texas, Nebraska and Kansas. • Clemson target 2027 LB Kaden Henderson plans to visit Notre Dame Nov. 8. • 2027 DT Karlos May of Birmingham, who has a South Carolina offer, and who visited Clemson for the LSU game, planned to visit Ohio State Saturday. • USC target 2027 DE Rashad Streets of Raleigh was offered by Alabama. He visited for the Alabama game. • Greenville DE Franklin Whitley and 2027 DE Jaiden Bryant of Irmo planned to visit Tennessee Saturday. Basketball Late last month, Clemson basketball coach Brad Brownell and assistant coach Sean Dixon decided to offer senior 6-6 Amare James of Marietta, Ga. The Tigers had been on his trail for a little while, just waiting for him to develop to the point where they felt he was worthy of an offer to play at their level. In their eyes, he reached that point. “Since going to Wheeler (High School), you get a lot of exposure to high major programs. I’ve been there since I was a freshman, a four-year player. They’ve been seeing me and my development over the years,” James said. “Coach Sean Dixon told me back when I was like a sophomore or a junior, he was like, I see your game, just keep working. I like your game. When they came back and saw me with more improvements before the beginning of my senior year, I guess that’s just what sealed it.” One thing Brownell and Dixon saw in James was a get-after-it kind of player. “I’m a competitive, high-intensity player,” James said. “I’m 6-6, so I can stretch the floor. I like to guard, and I’m just really competitive at the end of the day. I get after it.” Another thing they saw, and this had to please the defensive-minded Brownell, is that James loves to play defense. “I feel like defense is just want to,” James said. “You’ve got to be engaged the whole entire play, and head on swivel knowing where your man is, knowing where the ball is. It’s a lot of variables to it. As long as you’re fully engaged in knowing where you’re at on the court, you should be able to guard the man in front of you.” Clemson is the first really major offer for James, and he made his official with the Tigers last week. “I still have some visits to go on, but I like what Clemson has to offer,” James said. “It’s definitely an option for me. I’ll just have to see.” James has also visited Evansville and is scheduled to visit Southern Indiana this weekend. James has also received offers from College of Charleston, Charleston Southern, Alcorn State and Eastern Illinois. He is not sure yet if he will sign in November. James estimated that he averaged around 13 points per game last season. • Clemson is listed in a Rivals story as among the schools to reach out to former G-Leaguer guard TJ Clark. Tennessee, Ohio State, Georgia and Auburn are the others mentioned. • The cousin of USC guard Meechie Johnson, 6-2 Marcus Johnson of Cleveland, decommitted from Ohio State and reopened his recruiting, his father told Rivals. He had been committed to the Buckeyes since his sophomore season. Joe Tipton of Rivals reported that South Carolina has not yet offered Johnson, but John Whittle of TheBugSpur reported that the Gamecocks will pursue him. Johnson, who was named Ohio Mr. Basketball following a sophomore season when he averaged 30 points and six rebounds per game, plays for Garfield Heights High, where his father, also a former Ohio Mr. Basketball, is the head coach. Other schools reportedly interested are Michigan, Indiana, Illinois, Southern Cal, • 6-1 Trinity Jones of Bolingbrook, Ill., committed to the Clemson women last week. Jones is a nationally regarded prospect who chose the Tigers over Tennessee, LSU, UCLA and TCU. Jones has experience with USA Basketball, winning a gold medal at the 2023 FIBA Americas U16 Championship. She averaged 9.5 points, 6.7 rebounds and 1.2 blocks. Jones has gone back and forth between Bolingbrook and Naperville Central High Schools over the last three years. • 2026 6-0 Jerzy Robinson of Chatsworth, Calif., made an official visit to South Carolina on Oct. 25. She's down to the Gamecocks, LSU and UConn with decision imminent. • South Carolina women's commitment Kelsi Andrews revealed on her Instagram that she recently had some type of surgery on a leg or knee. She has previously had two ACL surgeries. Baseball RHP Collin Smith (6-6, 205) of Cochise College, Ariz., committed to South Carolina. As a freshman last season, Smith was 8-3 with a 3.56 ERA. In 86 innings he struck out 92 and walked 28.
