Tigers host portal target, 5-star defensive end during bowl practice

Eddrick Houston was back on campus, but this time as a public commitment to Ohio State.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Dec 18 07:00:06 GMT-04:00 2023

Clemson is busy with bowl practice, but that hasn’t stopped the recruits from rolling through the doors and the coaches from traveling to watch prospects.

Christmas is just a week from today, and head coach Dabo Swinney’s version of Christmas is Wednesday with the early National Signing Day. And while the Tigers have been busy looking ahead to playing Kentucky in the Gator Bowl, there have been significant developments on the recruiting front.

Let’s get started.

*Tennessee transfer portal offensive lineman Addison Nichols, a redshirt freshman, watched the Tigers practice Friday and picked up a Clemson offer. This one makes sense on a lot of levels.

Nichols was a 4-star in the 2022 recruiting cycle out of Norcross (GA) Greater Atlanta Christian, and he had an offer from Clemson and former offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell. He also had an offer and was recruited by one Matt Luke, who is now at Clemson.

He has experience at center, and Clemson is losing Will Putnam after the bowl game. The fact that he has three years of eligibility remaining is a plus. He also visited Arkansas, and a decision could come soon.

*A notable Saturday visit was 2025 4-star defensive back Jontae Gilbert out of Atlanta (GA) Douglass. He has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Florida St., Tennessee, Texas A&M, and Southern Cal, among others.

Clemson looks to be recruiting Gilbert as a safety and is in great shape as Mickey Conn continues to do good work not only with his position group but with recruiting. Gilbert is set to release a top-five this spring, and I expect the Tigers to be in that group.

He visited for two Clemson games this past fall.

Amazing visit today🐅 pic.twitter.com/bgZsZBoUcP
— Jontae Gilbert (@J7ontae) December 16, 2023

*Ok, this one came as a bit of a surprise, but I received a text Friday that said 2024 5-star defensive lineman Eddrick Houston of Buford (GA) was on campus. Houston, the highest-ranked defensive commit in the Ohio State Buckeyes' 2024 recruiting class, visited Clemson and Alabama—the two programs that were right there with Ohio State when he committed this summer.

I was told that defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin, new defensive ends coach Chris Rumph and Conn visited Houston before he visited Clemson.

There have been rumors for a few years that Buckeye DL coach Larry Johnson is closing in on retirement, which may have something to do with it. But it bears watching.

*The Georgia High School state championships were held in Atlanta at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, and it was an opportunity for Clemson coaches to check in on one commit and several targets. Mike Reed, Conn, defensive tackles coach Nick Eason, and tight ends coach Kyle Richardson all were on hand.

Savannah Christan Prep and Cedar Grove saw 4-star Clemson tight end commit Logan Brooking‍ and 5-star Clemson defensive line target Elijah Griffin‍. Richardson was there to see Brooking, and Eason was there to watch Griffin.

Brooking had three receptions for 37 yards in the run-first offense.

*More to come on what should be an exciting week in recruiting.