By Johnny Falduto
Clemson football all but finalized its 2024 recruiting class within the first few hours of the early
signing period on Wednesday, with 22 players signing their Letters of Intent to join the program.
Clemson also signed one preferred walk-on.
Full Class List
TE Christian Bentancur
LB Sammy Brown
DT Hevin Brown-Schuler
WR Chase Byrd (PWO)
S Noah Dixon
RB David Eziomume
CB Tavoy Feagin
CB Corian Gipson
CB Ashton Hampton
PK Nolan Hauser
S Ricardo Jones
DE Adam Kissayi
LB CJ Kubah-Taylor
DE Darien Mayo
WR TJ Moore
OL Ronan O’Connell
DT Champ Thompson
OL Elyjah Thurmon
OL Mason Wade
WR Bryant Wesco Jr.
S Joe Wilkinson
LB Drew Woodaz
OL Watson Young
Class Breakdown
Clemson’s signing class spans across nine states: Georgia (eight), Florida (five), Texas (two),
Maryland (two), South Carolina (one), Illinois (one), North Carolina (one), Tennessee (one) and
Virginia (one).
Clemson’s signing class features eight offensive players (1 RB, 2 WR, 1 TE, 4 OL), thirteen
defensive players (2 DE, 2 DT, 2 LB, 3 CB, 3 S) and one special teams player (1 PK).
Midyear Enrollees
15 scholarship signees will enroll at Clemson in January, in addition to preferred walk-on Chase
Byrd – bringing the total midyear enrollees to 16. The full list includes Tavoy Feagin, Joe
Wilkinson, Sammy Brown, Nolan Hauser, David Eziomume, Ricardo Jones, Champ Thompson, Noah Dixon, Watson Young, Adam Kissayi, Ronan O’Connell, Bryant Wesco Jr., Corian Gipson,
Chase Byrd, Elyjah Thurmon, Mason Wade.
Several midyear enrollees will be at Clemson’s bowl practices in Jacksonville: David Eziomume,
Sammy Brown, Tavoy Feagin, Corian Gipson, Nolan Hauser, Ricardo Jones, Champ
Thompson, Chase Byrd.
Rankings Report
- Clemson’s class includes 11 members of the Rivals250: TE Christian Bentancur, LB Sammy
Brown, DT Hevin Brown-Shuler, S Noah Dixon, RB David Eziomume, CB Tavoy Feagin, CB
Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, DE Darien Mayo, WR T.J. Moore and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.
- Ten members of the class were listed among On3’s Top 300: TE Christian Bentancur, LB
Sammy Brown, RB David Eziomume, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, DE Adam Kissayi,
DE Darien Mayo, WR T.J. Moore, OL Elyjah Thurmon and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.
- The class also includes nine members of the ESPN300: TE Christian Bentancur, LB Sammy
Brown, DT Hevin Brown-Shuler, S Noah Dixon, CB Tavoy Feagin, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo
Jones, WR T.J. Moore and WR Bryant Wesco Jr.
- The group features seven selections to the 247Sports Top247: TE Christian Bentancur, LB
Sammy Brown, CB Corian Gipson, S Ricardo Jones, DE Darien Mayo, WR T.J. Moore and WR
Bryant Wesco Jr.
Dabo Swinney Comments
Head coach Dabo Swinney met with the media on Wednesday morning to discuss the 2024
signees.
– On RB David Eziomume: “We’re really excited about David. He’s a big back, he’s got a ton of
personality… he’s a home-run hitter… just a perfect fit for this class. We were going to take one
(RB) and we feel like we got our guy and he’s been committed for a long time.”
– On WRs Bryant Wesco Jr. and TJ Moore: “These guys came into visit last June and have
been committed ever since. These are two of the top ten receivers in the country – two great,
great players that really bring everything we’re looking for. Wesco’s coming in midyear so we’ll
get a head start with him… just two ballhawks… they’ve got length, speed, change-of-direction,
the ability to do a lot of things with the ball in their hands after the catch.”
– On TE Christian Bentancur: “This guy is special. He’s a big-time playmaker… I really love
what we have at our tight end position. My first signee from Illinois.”
– On OLs O’Connell, Young, Wade, Thurmon: “I’m super excited about what we were able to do
on the offensive line – it kind of just came together and worked in a great way. Ronan has been
committed for a long time, and we’re really, really excited about him. Big barrel-chested guy who
has a lot of versatility to his game… he’s a tough, tough kid and I just love everything about him. I think Watson Young is going to be the first fourth generation Clemson football player… he’s
played a lot of tackle but he’s going to be a center for us… these last two guys, I think we really
knocked it out of the park in terms of what we needed: we needed guys that could play tackle
and have some position flexibility like Jordan McFadden brought to us… and Elyjah Thurmon
and Mason Wade bring that. These are two dirt bags, tough guys, athletic, with good length that
are in a good place physically. The best part about these four linemen is that they’re all
midyears
– On DEs Darien Mayo and Adam Kissayi: “Both of these dudes are 6-foot 7, just absolute
giants when you see them. Darien is a high-level player, he’s got a bright future and had a great
year this year. Adam Kissayi was committed to another school, but came to camp at Clemson
and told me at the rock that he wanted to earn a scholarship to Clemson… he was here for
three days, didn’t miss anything, and really won us over. He’s got long-range potential… I have
no idea how big this guy’s going to be but I’m really excited about his potential and what he
brings.”
– On DTs Hevin Brown-Schuler and Champ Thompson: “Two of my favorite kids that I’ve ever
recruited – just two great families and great kids. Champ’s already here and has started
practice, Hevin will join us in the summer… two big, strong, athletic, dynamic players with big
personalities… just so much more than football players, very elite players, but two great young
men.”
– On LBs Sammy Brown, Drew Woodaz, CJ Kubah-Taylor: “It really came together well – this
was a position we would consider maybe taking a transfer portal guy if Barrett Carter had left…
CJ Kubah-Taylor’s got great size and weight and he’s a guy that’s gotten better every year. We
think he’s got a lot of great days ahead of him. Everybody knows a lot about Sammy Brown…
this is a kid that we recruited since he was a kid, we were recruiting him before we even knew
we were recruiting him, he’s been coming to youth camp… he’s a dude we all know that. He
won the high school Butkus Award, he’s a powerlifting champ, wrestling champ, never comes
off the field normally… just super excited to finally get started with him. I think it’s a blessing he’s
got a guy like Barrett Carter to mentor with… same thing with Drew Woodaz. They say Drew’s
the best athlete in the family so we’ll see when he gets here.”
– On CBs Tavoy Feagin, Corian Gipson, Ashton Hampton: “Feagin is a great player. He’s got
length, great technique at this stage of his career… his technique, fundamentals, knowledge of
the game, he’s very advanced when it comes to all that stuff. Corian could have gone anywhere
he wanted to go… just a long, competitive, fast athlete in the back that can do a lot of things and
play anywhere in the secondary… he’s got a mentality that you really want to see early. Ashton
is long – I mean like a giant – and can play corner, he can play nickel, he can play strong, he
can play free… he’s a freaky type of athlete.”
– On S Noah Dixon, Ricardo Jones, Joe Wilkinson: “Noah is a baller. He’s a big, physical kid…
unbelievable maturity and character. When you think about these last two guys – Ricardo Jones
and Joe Wilkinson – you better have your head on a swivel. If you play offense, you’d better know where these guys are. These are two guys that will flat out bring the wood. Ricardo has an
edge to his game that you love to see on the defensive side. We watched Joe the last two years
and if you watch his tape, it’s easy to see why we like him. This guy can flat out play the game
of football, he’s always available. He is going to be a fun guy to watch develop.”
– On PK Nolan Hauser: “He’s the best kicker in the country, simple as that. He broke the all-
time high school record halfway through the season this fall. Obviously, that’s a position we
need to get better and have some competition and he’s definitely going to do that.”
– On PWO WR Chase Byrd: “He had some smaller opportunities to go play but he wanted to
chase his dream here at Clemson and we’re glad to have him.”
Other Notes via Clemson Football’s Official Release
- To date, every signing class in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure except for its 2023 class has won
at least one ACC Championship. Nine straight classes from 2012-20 earned at least one College Football
Playoff berth.
- Entering this year, Clemson's recruiting classes finished in the top 15 of at least one primary recruiting
service (ESPN, Rivals and 247Sports) every year since 2011. Clemson was one of only seven schools to
produce a Top 15 class in each of the previous 13 recruiting cycles, a group that also includes Alabama,
Auburn, Georgia, LSU, Notre Dame and Ohio State. Clemson will attempt to extend that streak with its
2024 class when rankings are finalized in February.
- To date, every signing class in Dabo Swinney’s head coaching tenure except for his 2023 class has won
at least one ACC Championship. Nine straight classes from 2012-20 earned at least one College Football
Playoff berth.
