STRecruiting: Clemson and South Carolina in the mix with 6-10 forward Will Stevens

Clemson coach Brad Brownell and South Carolina coach Lamont Paris watched the development of 6-10 Will Stevens of Lake Norman, NC over the summer and were impressed with what they saw.

Actually, Brownell was already sold on Stevens because he offered him last September. Paris and assistant coach Eddie Shannon were a little slower to move on Stevens, but they did so with an offer in mid-June. Now, both are in his final five and in line for official visits.

Stevens has set his official visit to Clemson for the LSU football weekend of August 30th. He’s been more involved with the Tigers than USC at this point. He’s been there for football and basketball games, and he made another visit just to look around.

Brownell is in a good recruiting position with him at this stage of the summer.

“I just like the coaching staff.  I think they’ve been good to me this whole time.  They are always checking in on me, calling me, and asking what’s going on,” Stevens said.  “I also like their offense, their play style.  I think it suits bigs.  They’re not afraid to use their bigs, just like triggers in their offense.  My friend (Trent Steinour) is down there right now actually, who’s a big, and he says he likes it.  I think he really likes it down there.  He’s really buying in.”

Brownell and his staff had a recent Zoom session with Stevens and further explained their plans for him should he choose the Tigers.

“They said the main thing is I’ve got to gain some weight right now, get stronger,” Stevens said.  “They were showing me on the Zoom ways that their offense uses their bigs and where I would be, and that includes making reads from the top of the key and shot versatility.”

Stevens visited USC last fall for the Ole Miss football game. He was also able to watch the basketball team practice that day.

“They’ve been following me for a little bit of time now,” Stevens said.  “I think they also use their bigs well.  I’ve been in main contact with Coach Shannon.  He’s been good.  Coach Paris, I’m going to hop on the phone with him in the next few days and discuss everything and try and get a visit set up with them. The SEC is obviously a great conference.  I think my versatility would fit for them.”

Stevens also has an official visit set with Vanderbilt for September 26th. The other schools on his short list are Davidson and St. Mary’s. Some of is other offers are East Carolina, Cincinnati, Virginia, Mississippi State, Wake Forest, College of Charleston, Texas Tech, West Virginia and Iowa.

He plans to make his decision in early November prior to the start of his season.