Venables offers elite 2014 corner

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Thu Jan 24 11:10:00 GMT-04:00 2013

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables Brent Venables
Defensive Coordinator / Linebackers
View Full Profile made an offer Tuesday to one of the top cornerbacks coming out of the state Georgia in 2014 when he offered Marietta (GA) Walton's D.J. Smith D.J. Smith
Cornerback
6-0, 180
Marietta, GA
View Full Profile .

Smith, who hails from the same high school as former Clemson receiver Aaron Kelly, is considered to be one of the nation’s elite corners in the 2014 recruiting cycle, and he already had offers from Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Michigan St., Nebraska, UNC, Vanderbilt and South Carolina.

Tuesday made offer number nine for the six foot, 180-pounder.

“I was in the library at school during my lunch period, and my coach came and got me and said that Coach Venables wanted to talk to me,” Smith told TigerNet Wednesday. “I had talked to him on Facebook a little bit, and we had chatted back and forth. But he told me that he wanted to offer me a scholarship, and that he wanted me to come up to Clemson’s Junior Day, which is next week.”

Smith took him up on the offer, and will be on the Clemson campus a little over a week from now.

“I am definitely going to make it to Clemson,” he said. “I want to see everything on the visit, but I really want to start a relationship with the coaches and then check everything out. Right now, getting to know the coaches is important to me.”

Smith said he actually saw Clemson play in person last season – he watched the Tigers’ loss at Florida St. in late September.

“I was at that game,” he said. “You could tell a lot about their offense and how good they are. I could also tell they were struggling defensively.”

He said he already knew a little about the Clemson program before seeing them last season.

“I knew about the colors and the great uniforms,” he said. “I also knew about Howard’s Rock and how they touch the rock before they run down the hill. I am going to check that out on the visit.”

Smith said his three early leaders are Georgia, Florida and Alabama, but detailed what he is looking for in a school.

“I want a place where I can get some playing time early and get some experience.”

As a junior, he had 50 tackles and intercepted three passes. On offense, he rushed for over 400 yards and caught 300 yards worth of passes.