Breaking down OrTre Smith's Clemson visit

Smith works out with Ramon Robinson last month at Newberry

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jun 23 08:01:02 GMT-04:00 2016

OrTre Smith’s whirlwind summer tour is finally beginning to slow down.

The 4-star wide receiver out of Mt. Pleasant (SC) Wando (6-3, 204) visited Clemson with his mother last Friday as part of a tour that has included stops at South Carolina and North Carolina over the past few weeks. The visit was Smith’s first to Clemson since he attended Junior Day back in January.

Smith is rated as the No. 3 overall player in the state and is rated as No. 242 in the ESPN 300 and owns 13 offers from Clemson, Florida St., Georgia Tech, Louisville, Ole Miss, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee among others.

Smith’s mother, former Clemson volleyball player Tashia Greene, discussed the recent stops with TigerNet earlier this week.

“The tour has been really good. It's been informative - all of the schools have been informative and very up front about where OrTre fits into their football program. And also academically, which is the most important thing for me,” Green said. “Being a former student-athlete myself, it's not really all that new to me. It's changed a lot, but it's not that new. They get to do a little extra stuff, but it's really the same. The coaches tell you where you fit into the program and then academically, what kind of support you will receive. Each school will do something different.”

Green said both she and OrTre wanted to hear more about the academic side of things at Clemson.

“Being an alumna, I know that it has changed a lot over the years. But hearing about Vickery Hall and all of that brought back memories,” she said. “What stood out was that academic team and the support they give you every step of the way, with each position having their own staff and that makes a big difference.”

The highlight of the visit was 1-on-1 time spent with head coach Dabo Swinney.

“We spoke with Coach Swinney about an hour and fifteen minutes. It was a genuine conversation, really, with him explaining the Clemson culture to OrTre and myself and getting us to buy in,” Green said. “I explained to OrTre that Clemson brings a family atmosphere, and that was one thing that attracted me to Clemson. And the same goes for OrTre. I am a single mom and this is who he knows, is me. It's going to be important - for both of us - to feel very comfortable when I drop him off. I need to know that he's taken care of. He (Swinney) talked a lot about that. He talked about the recruitment and how OrTre would benefit from attending Clemson and how he would be a good asset to the program.”

Both of Clemson’s co-offensive coordinators – Jeff Scott and Tony Elliott – were always close by as well.

“Coach Scott and Coach Elliott were with us the entire time.,” Green said. “Coach Scott talked a lot about the wide receivers and where he could see OrTre playing in the offense. He also put every name on the board and showed us everything. Coach Scott did a great job of clarifying everything and we felt better after we spoke with him.”

Smith will take a short break and hopefully, release a top group as soon as this week.

“Right now, we are trying to take a break. OrTre is competing in a 7-on-7 tournament this weekend and he will be at Nike's The Opening in July, and then he and his Godmother will go to Notre Dame together,” Green said. “He hasn't actually picked the other place he wants to go. But he wants to pick his top four or six this week, but he wants to talk to a couple of other people.”

Smith had 84 catches for 1,436 yards and 18 touchdowns as a junior. As a sophomore, Smith registered 31 catches for 462 yards and four touchdowns.