Priority offensive line target says Thomas Austin keeps it real

Reed will visit Clemson in a few weeks.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon May 23 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

Clemson is looking for some good news out of its offensive line recruiting, and the Tigers host one of their top targets soon when one elite Texas prospect makes his way to campus.

Offensive tackle Ian Reed is a 2023 4-star prospect out of Austin (TX) Vandegrift who made the rounds in the spring by checking out Clemson, Texas, Texas A&M, Ohio State, Baylor and TCU. He eventually narrowed his list to Clemson, Texas, Ohio State, Alabama, Georgia, Tennessee, Michigan, Wisconsin, Oklahoma State and Texas A&M.

From that list, Reed and his family will visit six schools starting this weekend, and from those visits he will make his commitment decision.

The visits begin Memorial Day weekend with an official to Tennessee. Clemson will get an official visit the next weekend followed by one to Wisconsin. Reed will check out Oklahoma State with an official on June 14th. Next, he’ll take an unofficial visit to Alabama on June 17th. Then he’ll wrap up his visits with an official to Texas on June 24th.

Reed first visited Clemson on April 9th for the spring game. Tigers offensive line coach Thomas Austin has been working Reed as one of his major priorities for the offensive line and the two are getting closer together.

“We’ve been starting to build our relationship even more. He’s just a great guy, a great influencer, great coach,” Reed said. “Even though he’s a first-time coach, he knows what he’s doing. He brings the family approach to it as well. When I went up there in April, it was an amazing visit.”

Reed added that he appreciates the way Austin has approached recruiting with him being candid and straight forward.

“The thing I like about Coach Austin is he keeps it real,” Reed said. “He highly regards me on his board, I’d say top two. He puts me in high regard.”

As he hits the home stretch of his recruiting with these six visits, Reed said he’s keeping an open mind about the schools knowing one will eventually rise to the top.

“I like all the schools I’ve been building relationships with,” Reed said. “It’s only a matter of time if I feel comfortable there and decide from there. We want to see how these go. We’re thinking of committing mid-August or before my first game of the season, which is late August.”