By Hale McGranahan.

Eric Crosby, one of the top-rated defensive tackles in the class of 2017, found out on Tuesday night that he had an offer from Clemson.

The Ocean Lakes High School (Virginia Beach) four-star spoke with TheClemsonInsider shortly after he got word of the news from his head coach.

At the time of his interview with TCI on Tuesday night, Crosby had not spoken with anyone from the Clemson staff about the offer.

“I got a couple of camp invites in the mail that got sent to my school,” Crosby said, “But pretty much, it just caught me off guard. (The offer) came out of nowhere.”

But he was more than happy to scoop it up.

“It meant a lot,” Crosby said. “I really like that school and I like orange. I’ve been waiting for that offer since I got my first one.

“Now that it’s finally here, I’m happy to see that my hard work and dedication is finally paying off.”

Clemson joined a list of suitors that already included Florida State, Tennessee, Ohio State, Virginia and Virginia Tech.

“To be honest, I really don’t know anything,” Crosby said about Clemson.

The 6-foot-1, 275-pound prospect wants to change that. He plans to “definitely” take a visit to Clemson in the not too distant future.

“We’re trying to get my list together of where I want to visit this summer, or soon, and they’re definitely up there,” Crosby said.

So far, he’s visited Virginia, Virginia Tech, N.C. State and Old Dominion.

As a sophomore, Crosby had 80 tackles and seven sacks. He also rushed for 125 yards and four touchdowns.