As programs heat up in the recruiting department with a loaded amount of elite prospects going on various official visits, the small-town campus of Clemson Football hosted a handful this past weekend.
With the No. 1 ranking in returning production, Clemson Football and the rest of College Football have high expectations for the Tigers next season.
The combination of a winning program and faith has given Clemson and head coach Swinney an unwavering ability to recruit for years. Yet, they still look to improve upon their No. 5 overall recruiting ranking.
That being said, here’s some information on the top uncommitted recruits that will be visiting Tiger Town this weekend:
Tyler Atkinson (LB)
The Grayson High School (GA) to Clemson pipeline has been extremely apparent over the years as multiple Clemson standouts have come from the school, including but not limited to Phil Mafah, Wayne Gallman, Chase Brice, and Ian Schieffelin.
Tyler Atkinson is one of the best recruits ever to touch Grayson’s turf, ranking as the No. 9 overall prospect in the country and the No. 1 player at his position and in the state, per 247Sports Composite.
The 2024 MaxPreps Junior Player of the Year has made an impact for his team since the day he got to high school, racking up 112 tackles, 22 tackles for losses, eight sacks and four pass deflections in 13 games played as a freshman on varsity.
He didn’t slow down after a great start to his high school career, totaling 363 tackles, 57 tackles for losses, 23.5 sacks, four forced fumbles, three pass deflections and an interception over the next two years — most recently leading Grayson to a 6A 2024-2025 State Championship and earning the games MVP.
With Clemson being Atkinson’s first official visit, it’s safe to say they’re certainly contending for the Top 10 talent, as he even said it himself.
“Clemson was one of my Top 10 schools before they even offered me.”
Tyler Atkinson
Darius Gray (OL)
Gray is one of the top-end talents in the 2026 class, being heavily recruited by prestigious College Football programs like Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State, Penn State and more.
The five-star ranks as the No. 28 player nationally and No. 2 player at his position and the state, per 247Sports Composite.
The Virginia native has had three official visits so far, traveling to Virginia Tech, Virginia and Georgia over the past two months.
With Matt Luke being the Clemson coach to recruit him, I’d say Gray is in pretty good hands, but we’ll just have to see how everything works out, considering he has four more schools to visit following the Tigers (Tennessee, Ohio State, LSU, Penn State and South Carolina)
Bryce Perry-Wright (DL)
Although Perry-Wright received his offer last summer, the borderline five-star has been recruited heavily by the Clemson Tigers for years, dating back to the fall of 2022.
Since then, he’s returned for a whopping eight unofficial visits and is now back for his official. It’s clear that Perry-Wright loves the college town as no other school comes close to the amount of visits.
Recently, he was crystal-balled to commit to Clemson Football by Austin Hannon, a 247Clemson Insider. While this doesn’t come as a surprise, looking at the track history between the two, it still gives loads of Tiger fans high hopes for the elite prospect.
As a freshman at Buford High School, Perry-Wright had to work his way into the defensive line rotation and eventually succeeded by the end of the year, yet there wasn’t too much buzz around his name. That was until he had a coming out party at the Football University Freshman All-American game, earning Defensive MVP honors after recording multiple pressures and a pick-six.
His mixture of work ethic, power, speed and technique helped him climb to new heights in terms of ability over the next two years.
The 6-foot-3 lineman earned MaxPreps Sophomore All-American honors after a dominant season in the trenches, recording 51 tackles, nine tackles for losses, 7.5 sacks, and 13 QB hits.
As a junior, his increasing development led to career highs across the board, as he was credited with 57 tackles, 13 tackles for losses, nine sacks and 17 QB hits. He helped lead Buford to a semi-finals appearance in Georgia’s 6A State Playoffs, losing to the eventual Champions — Grayson.
While Perry-Wright still has three more official visits to go on (Miami, Texas and Texas A&M), I don’t doubt that he has the strongest connection with Clemson and their coaching staff as he’s been in contact with them for 3-4 years now.
“I feel really good with [Clemson], I’ve been building a relationship with them. Even if they don’t offer you, they’re going to build a relationship with you.”
Bryce Perry-Wright
Joey O’Brien (S)
O’Brien has been a noticeable riser in the class of 2026, but it seems as if it’ll be a hard sway to get the Pennsylvania product down south — but if anybody can do it, Dabo would be the guy.
The hybrid safety for La Salle College High School shot up in the rankings after his junior season when he showed elite versatility by playing on both sides of the ball as a WR and CB/S.
He caught a single-season school-record 68 passes for 1,029 yards and 12 touchdowns while totaling 36 tackles, 13 pass deflections and an interception on the defensive side of the ball.
The breakout season led to Clemson, Oregon, Miami and Florida offers.
However, Tennessee, Notre Dame and especially Penn State — his state school — had been heavily recruiting him before his junior campaign.
Notre Dame was one of the first offers he received, while Tennessee and Penn State have had him on campus for multiple Unofficial Visits.
In early February of this year — shortly after his Clemson offer — 247Sports’ National Recruiting Analyst Tom Loy crystal-balled the 6-foot-3 safety to Penn State. To begin April, O’Brien was also crystal-balled to Notre Dame by a Fighting Irish Recruiting Writer via 247Sports.
Nevertheless, Clemson still made his Top 6 choices alongside elite company in Penn State, Notre Dame, Oregon, Tennessee and Michigan.
Considering the depth Clemson has lost in the secondary, O’Brien could be a massive get for the Tigers and look to go all out on their official visits.
He is currently ranked as the No. 64 player nationally, No. 6 Safety and No. 2 in Pennsylvania, per 247Sports Composite
The Northern talent has three visits following Clemson: Oregon, Tennessee, then finishing off at Notre Dame.
Ekene Ogboko (OL/DL)
Ogboko is a freak of an athlete as he stands at 6-foot-6, 280 pounds and plays both sides of the ball at South Garner in Durham, North Carolina.
While he’s mainly known for blocking the signal caller, he’s put up 89 tackles, 36 tackles for losses, seven sacks and two forced fumbles on the other side of the ball since stepping up to varsity his sophomore year.
The blue-chip recruit has been visiting a multitude of colleges the past few years as he’s taken trips to Clemson, Alabama, North Carolina and more.
Georgia is the front-runner for Ogboko right now, as he was crystal-balled there in April and has had an offer from them since mid-2023. A heavy factor that is probably being played into with recruiting between the two parties is that Ekene’s brother, Nnamdi Ogboko, is a DL for the Bulldogs.
However, Matt Luke has shown what he can do since being a newcomer on Clemson’s staff, and I wouldn’t put it past him that he can reel in another elite lineman talent.
Ogboko visited Florida before Clemson and will now head to Athens next, then Ohio State, ending with Notre Dame.
Jae Lamar (RB)
Jae Lamar has been another huge riser in the past couple of months as he went from a borderline top-200 recruit to a borderline top-100 recruit.
Lamar’s story is extremely inspiring as he didn’t even play his first two years at Colquitt County High School due to being shot in the leg at 14/15 years old, vowing to change his life for the better and hoping to have another opportunity on the gridiron.
“God makes no mistakes, he had my life planned out great… I wanted to be someone different, make a huge impact on my life and family.”
Jae Lamar
The 205-pound back would live up to the promise he made in the hospital that tragic day as he would have a breakout junior year, rushing for 885 yards and 11 touchdowns on only 112 carries (7.9 yards per carry). He also previewed his yards after the catch ability, hauling in eight catches for 172 yards and two touchdowns.
He ranks as the No. 106 player nationally, No. 8 RB and No. 12 recruit in Georgia, per 247Sports Composite.
While he was crystal-balled to Georgia in late February, many things have happened then, including a Clemson offer.
After an unofficial visit to Tiger Town in late March, HC Dabo Swinney and RB coach C.J. Spiller extended Lamar’s offer on the spot.
It had shaken a lot of feathers for the back as he took a huge liking to the small yet prestigious college town — even rescheduling his Georgia visit to make it to Clemson.
For now, we’ll have to sit back and wait as he has a few more official visits to go on, including FSU, Miami and Georgia.
His Top 6 choices are Clemson, Ohio State, Auburn, FSU, Miami and Georgia.
