1. The social media clip shows Dabo Swinney taking four-star cornerback commitment Branden Strozier into the low post, then hitting a contested turnaround fadeaway that ignites the halfcourt gym.
Still got it.
Yeah, Clemson does.
The Tigers played host to 31 recruits and their families this past weekend.
It already stood to be a ceremonially signIficant event as the first summer official visits Clemson has entertained. But the Tigers didn't tiptoe into them; no one brings in that volume for a single official visit gathering, a fact arguably overlooked in assessing the magnitude of the moment.
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Clemson's recruiting is typically held to the standard of its elite peers -- essentially, UGA and Alabama -- even though the results won't match based on philosophy and approach.
Yet amid questions about the program's momentum through this offseason, it warrants citing that UGA held official visits this past weekend, too -- and there were only two targets Clemson lost out on to Athens.
All told, there were only five targets the Tigers pushed to get on hand who didn't come -- and one of them (four-star instate offensive lineman Monroe Freeling) didn't make it because of his parents' wedding anniversary plans.
Thirty-one out of 36 is a pretty good rate of return.
As we always underline, it's about the ones you get, and that will be the eventual gauge for the official visit weekend.
Like we've said, the end of June will be the appropriate time to start rendering a more accurate judgment.
Many of these prospects and families have had their eyes on a full slate of official visits for months, and they want to see the process through out of due diligence.
Let's just also say our educated hunch is there are a few who will have decided Clemson is their place, and public disclosure will come in due time as well.
Certainly in the immediate aftermath, though, the Tigers felt they made quite the splash.
There was plenty of splashing, as we documented in our Sunday update. The weekend began with pontoon boats and kayaks at the university's lake front recreation area, and a number of prospects marveled at Dabo Swinney's Clemson-themed pool at his house Saturday night.
A scavenger hunt, card games, photo shoot -- and yes, even an NIL meeting -- rounded out the organized activities, while a large number of current Clemson players hung out with the prospects both nights.
Here we go ...
2. We aren't going to exhaust detail on all 27 uncommitted attendants in this edition, nor does anyone's omission mean they are out of the picture.
But based on the intel we've gathered from a ton of contacts on all sides of the equation, we intend to highlight the most pertinent developments from the weekend.
Thus we begin with one of two positions we circled of increased significance heading into the gathering: Offensive line.
