CLEMSON RECRUITING

Top 2015 defensive end gets Clemson offer

Top 2015 defensive end gets Clemson offer


by - Senior Writer -

One of the top rush ends in the 2015 recruiting cycle wears No. 77 for a reason – he wants to be twice as good as South Carolina’s Jadeveon Clowney, who wears the single digit number seven for the Gamecocks.

Michael Barnett Michael Barnett
Defensive End
6-4, 240
Ridgeville, SC

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, the strongside defensive end from Ridgeland (SC) Woodland, already has a freakish blend of size (6-7, 239) and is drawing interest from many of the region’s top programs. That includes Clemson, which gave Barnett a verbal offer last week.

“The recruiter for my area is Coach [Tony] Elliott, and he made the offer,” Barnett told TigerNet this week. “I know all about Clemson because of Sammy Watkins, Tajh Boyd, Andre Ellington and some of the great defensive linemen they have had, like Brandon Thompson. I like watching their defensive guys, because you can tell they are well-coached. I like how they let their hands work.”

Barnett already had offers from Virginia Tech and N.C. State, but Clemson is the one he was waiting for.

“I was happy they offered,” he said. “That is the school that I have been wanting to go to for forever, and I was so excited I didn’t know what to do.”

However, Barnett said that Virginia Tech has opened the early lead after his visit up to Blacksburg earlier this spring.

“They showed me a lot of hospitality up at Virginia Tech, and they made me feel at home,” he said. “Everybody up there was nice and they knew me, and the coaches told me what they like about me. It really is like home up there, even though I know there is a long way to go in my recruiting.”

Barnett hasn’t been to Clemson since attending Dabo SwinneyDabo Swinney
Head Coach
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’s camp last summer, but plans to make it back to Clemson for a visit for Swinney’s camp next month.

What does he want to see while he is back on campus?

“I guess they just need to do what Virginia Tech did,” he said. “I might be going up just for the day, and I might be going up and spend the night. I am just not sure yet. But I hope I can get up to Clemson and they make me feel at home like Virginia Tech did.”

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