1. Let's jump right in.

As is custom, we start by closing the book on Clemson's latest commitment.

Washington (D.C.) St. John's College four-star defensive end David Ojiegbe announced his pledge Wednesday.

Ojiegbe (6-3, 235) listed Michigan, Miami, Maryland and UNC as his other finalists.

We're not sure his process even reached the point of there being a runner-up, though our sense was that the folks around Ojiegbe respected and appreciated the interest from the nearby Terps.

Ojiegbe (pronounced oh-ZHEB-way) might not be the most talented or have the longest frame on the defensive end board.

But he's thick and sturdy -- put together well to handle run support. His extended film reinforces the motor of a hard worker, vouched for by voices Clemson trusts.

And as the coaches increasingly got to know him this year, they liked the personality fit -- particularly when the Tigers are taking three defensive ends and could use a bird in hand.

The character match showed to be mutual, as Ojiegbe mentally locked onto Clemson after making his first visit for the program's March 5 junior day.

He returned for the April 9 spring game and met with Dabo Swinney late that morning to give him his word.

We issued a Tigerillustrated.com projection for Ojiegbe to Clemson in our subsequent Insider.

Ojiegbe became the first defensive pledge for the Tigers' class.

We've laid out a litany of reasons why Clemson -- and many others -- look off to a slow start based off lower commitment volume.

Others have noted how late it is for the Tigers to be nabbing their first defensive commitment. Well, they didn't get their first one last cycle until June.

So maybe they're ahead of the curve ...

2. As we've written, one end down, two to go.

Through the last couple of weeks, we've slowly unveiled the handful of additional defensive ends Clemson has lined up to be at the official visit weekend.

Last week's edition, in fact, was punctuated with the guest list addition of Gardendale (Ala.) high-four star Kelby Collins. Collins joined the rundown that includes Highland Home (Ala.) four-star Keldric Faulk, Thomaston (Ga.) Upson Lee's T.J. Searcy, College Park (Ga.) Woodward Academy four-star AJ Hoffler and Columbus (Ga.) Carver four-star Darron Reed.

The last one we have been waiting to introduce was Austin (Texas) Westlake four-star Colton Vasek.

Vasek (6-6, 230) visited with his parents in mid-March and collected his offer upon making it to campus.

As you can surmise, he is a former teammate of Clemson five-star freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik. His father played defensive end for Texas in the early 1990s and has been an assistant at Westlake for more than a decade.

Vasek's recruitment has exploded since early January, at which point Baylor, Texas Tech, TCU and SMU appeared the primary players.

Texas offered in late January. But the legacy is believed to be exploring all options and will make the Longhorns fight for him.

Alabama offered in early March, followed shortly by Notre Dame. Texas A&M, Michigan, Oklahoma, Florida State, Arkansas and Oregon among others.

In speaking with contacts over the weekend, we believe the in-state schools along with Oklahoma and Oregon to be the primary schools in the mix.

3. Staying in Texas, a notable development with one of Clemson's select cornerback targets last week.

In declaring his top-seven, Coppell (Texas) four-star cornerback Braxton Myers revealed that he plans to announce a commitment decision May 16.

Myers (6-1, 190), ranked No. 137 overall, was essentially the first corner the Tigers looked to when its A.J. Harris courtship had run its course.

He is the son of former NFL defensive lineman Michael Myers, who played at Alabama when Swinney and several other current Clemson staffers were there, plus he played alongside assistant Lemanski Hall in the pros.

Those relationships and familiarity manifested in Braxton attending the Swinney Camp numerous years before and upon evolving into a recruit.

That tends to bode favorably for Clemson, and Myers returned for the program's elite junior day in late January.

USC represented Clemson's chief competition at that time, as we shared via sources and the Trojans have gained major momentum since, having attracted him twice in a three-week span in April.

Myers has reiterated the intent to be at Clemson's official visit weekend, then back at USC for an official visit two weeks later -- no matter which school he commits to this month.

We can pretty well guarantee that won't be the case, although he might not know that yet. The Tigers don't host official visits for prospects committed elsewhere, and if he's betrothed to Clemson, he's not going on a fling in southern California.

This is one where the math appears as simple as following the visits, including the absence of one back to Clemson for a spring practice or the game.

Clemson has not waved the white flag yet, for what it's worth.

Yet we will underline that the Tigers have two cornerback spots this class in a cycle they feel is quite deep at the position.

They remain in strong shape with Alpharetta (Ga.) St. Christopher four-star Branden Strozier and, along with him, are also slated to get their swing on the big official visit weekend for Plantation (Fla.) American Heritage four-star Damari Brown.