Dreams do come true in recruiting. That was the case Saturday for OT Ian Reed (6-5 310) of Austin, TX. He made his first ever visit to Clemson for the spring game and met head coach Dabo Swinney and offensive line coach Thomas Austin. Going into the visit, Reed had high hopes of getting an offer from the Tigers. Swinney and Austin turned those hopes into reality.
“Getting an offer from Clemson is just amazing,” Reed said. “It’s been a childhood dream of mine to get a Clemson offer. It was the first I actually watched when I got introduced to football. It’s pretty crazy getting an offer from a team that you first watched. I actually just watched a random game, and I didn’t know anything about football. It was back when I was in the third grade or something like that. I watched the Clemson-South Carolina game and I just saw the orange and white and it just looked amazing.”
Getting to see the Orange and White up close, and everything surrounding the football program, was also an uplifting time for Reed.
“It was unbelievable,” Reed said. “The staff, the scenery, the campus, the town, the people are just amazing. I can see why Clemson is such a special place. We are totally coming back in the summer. We want to take in as much as we can.”
Reed and Austin spent a lot of time together over the weekend, and the first year Clemson offensive line coach made great strides with Reed in building their relationship.
“I’m starting to build a good relationship with Coach Austin,” Reed said. “This was the first time I met him in person. He’s such a great guy. He thinks I’m very good and have a high upside in college football. He said I could possibly go far in the NFL. He loves the skill set that I have. The system that I run in high school is similar to Clemson’s, and he likes that as well. He thinks I have some God-given talent.”
The visit and offer moved the Tigers right into the top three with Reed along with Texas and Ohio State. He will visit the Buckeyes Tuesday and is hopeful of an offer from them as well.
He has visited Texas twice (he lives a half-hour from the campus), and has also seen TCU, Baylor, Texas A&M and North Texas. Reed also has offers from NC State, Kansas, Southern Cal, Duke, Texas Tech, Michigan State, Colorado, Cal, Arkansas, Ole Miss, Iowa State, Tennessee and Alabama.
Reed said he and Clemson are talking about an official visit the weekend of June 3rd. He would like to make his decision by the end of the summer.
Reed and Clemson freshman quarterback Cade Klubnik are both from Austin but don’t really know each other. There teams did meet in the playoffs last season.
