Tiger Insider Sneak Peek: A Clemson Recruiting Visit

Tiger Insider Staff - Tuesday, February 25 2003

Greenwood placekicker Jad Dean takes us inside a recruiting visit. Here’s an excerpt from his diary that’s featured in the new issue of Tiger Insider.

Friday

4:45 p.m. We arrive at the Martin Inn at the Madren Center near Clemson’s golf course. I have my own room and my parents have their room. They rode with me. The drive from Greenwood wasn’t bad. We check in and put our stuff in our rooms. We’re supposed to meet back down in the lobby at 6:15 for dinner. So for the time being I just hang out in the room and watch TV.

6:15 p.m. We go to the dining room at the Martin Inn for dinner. I’m at a table with Coach Bowden and his wife, my parents and Jack Hines, who will be my position coach. Coach Hines is real personable. Aaron Hunt, who will be my player host is also with us at the table.

We have our choice of seafood, t-bone or chicken. They served us at the table. It was awesome.

I knew some of the players that were visiting that weekend. (There were 34 players visiting.) I knew the ones that I had played in the Shrine Bowl with and then there were others I had read about on the Internet. We’re all going through the same thing now – about to chose a college. We talked about that a lot and about the decision. It’s a big deal for everybody.

Clemson recruits run down The Hill in Death Valley.

8:45 p.m. We took three buses over to Coach Bowden’s house for dessert. His house is real nice. It’s on the lake.

They had dessert set up in the dining room. It was buffet style with a bunch of different types. We ate all over the house. Some of the players played pool but it was too crowded around the pool table for me. It was a little too cold to go down to the dock. All during the dessert there were buses going back to the hotel if you wanted to leave.

While at his house the players that had already committed to Clemson met one-on-one with Coach Bowden. Everybody meets with Bowden one-on-one at some time during the weekend, but he went ahead and met with the commitments there at his house in a separate room. He met with us and our parents.

He told me I’m going to come in and do the kickoffs. He said I would compete with the guy that did the kickoffs this past year, but that I would come in as number-one. My mom asked a bunch of questions – just a bunch of questions like moms ask. He had an answer for everything.

My dad asked some questions, but not as many as mom. The meeting lasted about ten minutes. Coach Lovett, who recruited me, was in there for a little while.

All the coaches were there at the house. All the players like Coach Stockstill. I really hadn’t gotten to know him before this weekend because he didn’t recruit me, but I talked to him a good bit. He would come up to you and talk, but it was real easy to go up to him as well.

Clemson is loaded at receiver, there’s no doubt. But it’s possible the one of its best receivers is playing special teams. Read about one of Clemson’s receivers that doesn’t get noticed as much as he should.

Find out about the rest of Dean’s visit in the latest Tiger Insider…

Here’s what’s in the latest Tiger Insider:

Read about and see photos of Clemson’s latest class of signees.

Read the inside story of a recruiting visit. There are serious decisions being made on recruiting visits. You’ve heard about the limos and adult entertainment that is reportedly served up for unsuspecting high schoolers at other schools. Now read how Clemson treats its prospects.

The football office doesn’t run on its own. It takes a dedicated staff to keep up with the schedules of the coaches that lead Clemson football.

Randy Scott used known as one of the best linebackers in Clemson history. Now he’s an award-winning educator in Florida and the father of one of the best linebackers in America. Read about how life is going for Scott.

And more in the next Tiger Insider, including an exclusive round table discussion about the future of Clemson football.

Renew or start a new subscription by the end of January and receive a 5x7 print of the scoreboard and goalposts at the end of the USC game. It’s suitable for framing. It’s the perfect conversation piece when your Gamecock friends visit your office and try to tell you they’re on their way to another “Top 10” recruiting class. You can just say “scoreboard!” A note to those who have already ordered and are expecting a photo: Those should be in the mail in the next couple of weeks.