Clemson Tigers Lose Out on Yet Another Coveted Recruit
The Clemson Tigers keep taking hits on the recruiting trail.
The Clemson Tigers have certainly lost a lot of their luster on the recruiting trail in recent years, and that has been made very evident this offseason.
Clemson has watched a handful of targets either commit elsewhere or omit the Tigers from their list of finalists. Dabo Swinney and Co. have also seen players withdraw their name from Clemson’s Elite Retreat this week, and it has happened again.
Three-star wide receiver DJ Huggins, who initially planned to be at Clemson this Saturday, has told The Clemson Insider that he will not be attending the Elite Retreat.
The Tigers provided Huggins with his first Power-4 conference offer back in October, but since then, interest in the 5-foot-10 playmaker has picked up.
Huggins now has 13 offers on the table overall, including Georgia, Georgia Tech and Florida State.
Considering that Huggins is a Kennsaw, Ga. native, you have to figure that the Georgia schools will have the inside track to landing him as of right now.
Huggins hauled in 74 receptions for 1,127 yards and 12 touchdowns during his junior year at Harrison this past season.
The 2027 prospect is the 54th-ranked wide receiver in his class, via 247 Sports’ composite rankings.
Clemson has secured commitments from five players for the class of 2027, including four-star wide out Trey Wimbley. The Tigers are also targeting fellow four-star receiver Jamarin Simmons, who will be at the Elite Retreat this weekend.
Clemson went just 7-6 this past year in spite of entering 2025 with national championship aspirations. It marked the school’s worst finish since going 6-7 in 2010, which was Swinney’s second full season with the program.
Swinney has been widely criticized for his rather obsolete roster-building methods, which has certainly contributed to the Tigers’ recent slide.
The two-time national champion coach definitely deviated from the norm this winter, adding 10 players in the transfer portal. But there is no question that Clemson is still lagging behind many of the other top schools in the country.
In order for the Tigers to re-establish themselves as a national power, they’ll have to adjust their recruiting strategy … but it might be a case of too little, too late.
