Star Power: Nation's best headed to Clemson for Swinney's camp

Zach Carter is supposed to be in Clemson all three days

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Tue Jun 14 08:56:55 GMT-04:00 2016

What Dabo Swinney’s high school camp lacked in star power during the first session will be made up for over the next three days as several of the nation's top prospects descend on Clemson.

Clemson offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach Jeff Scott tweeted out recently that Clemson will have more elite talent on campus than ever before for the final session of high school camps, and it starts with the 2017 class that’s already committed.

The No. 4 prospect in the nation according to Rivals in Brownsburg (IN) quarterback Hunter Johnson and Knoxville (TN) Catholic wide receiver Amari Rodgers – two of Clemson’s top commits and recruiters – will lead the charge this week. They will be joined by most of their classmates including Loganville (GA) Grayson quarterback Chase Brice and offensive linemen Noah DeHond and Matt Bockhorst – the lone exception is Baylon Spector, the Calhoun (GA) linebacker commit, who attended last week’s camp.

Why is it so important for Clemson to have its class of 2017 on hand for the second session? Because some of the top uncommitted prospects for the cycle will be in attendance.

4-star Oak Ridge (TN) receiver Tee Higgins will attend with Rodgers, who is a close friend and also Clemson’s lead recruiter. It appears as though this battle is between the Tigers and the Tennessee Volunteers, so getting Higgins on campus for an extended stay with some of his closest friends could be crucial.

Tampa (FL) Hillsborough defensive end Zachary Carter – one of Clemson’s top targets at the position – plans to camp at Clemson for the full three days. Again, a huge development considering his top four includes Clemson, Florida, Tennessee and South Florida. When TigerNet spoke to Carter recently, all indications were that this would be a battle between the Tigers and Gators.

Xavier Thomas out of Florence (SC) Wilson, a 4-star defensive end and one of the top prospects from South Carolina for the 2018 recruiting cycle said that he will be on campus. In the early stages, this one looks like an in-state battle between Clemson and South Carolina.

Staying with the 2018 class, Anderson (SC) TL Hanna defensive lineman Stephon Wynn will camp at Clemson on Wednesday, along with several other one-day campers.

The Tigers continue to re-stock talent in the secondary after losing Mackensie Alexander, Jayron Kearse and T.J. Green to the NFL and this week could go a long with 4-star defensive backs Tre Shaw out of Ellenwood (GA) Cedar Grove and Loganville (GA) Grayson’s Jamyest Williams, both of which are expected at camp.

Transitioning to quarterbacks, a position that Clemson is pretty well stocked, the Tigers will host two 2018 targets in five-star Trevor Lawrence out of Cartersville (GA) and four-star Franklin (GA) Heard County signal caller Emory Jones. Both attended last year’s camp, but neither worked out during the sessions. Clemson is in good shape with Lawrence, but has some ground to make up with Jones after Ohio State’s offer.

The list of attendees is ever changing, so make sure to follow TigerNet over the next three days to keep up with who’s on campus, camp updates and any surprise visitors who may show up.