The summer recruiting season is in full-swing. Unfortunately, real, live college football is still a few months away.

With that in mind, TheClemsonInsider is taking a look back at the recruitment of each returning player on the Clemson roster.

LB [autotag]Ben Boulware[/autotag], Anderson, S.C. – Junior

It’s probably safe to say that there was only one offer that Boulware truly wanted. But the T.L. Hanna product had to patiently wait for Clemson to pull the trigger.

For much of his junior year, his only offer was from USF. After racking up 181 tackles that season, the offers started to flood in. Georgia, Georgia Tech, Stanford, UCLA, Maryland, Ole Miss, Duke, Minnesota and UConn all came through after the calendar flipped from 2011 to 2012.

On a Saturday visit that March, Boulware and his father met with newly-hired defensive coordinator Brent Venables. That’s when Clemson finally jumped on board.

Two weeks later, Venables received a commitment from Boulware.

“I just kind of felt at home, really,” Boulware said. “My entire family has been through Clemson. Literally, everybody in my family has graduated from Clemson. My brother’s there. It’s just the place where I felt at home and the most comfortable.”

Boulware never looked back, remaining firm with his pledge, even after he saw an uptick in stock for his work at the Shrine Bowl and Under Armour All-American Game.

Along with Boulware, Clemson signed one other linebacker in the 2013 cycle: Dorian O’Daniel, who was also rated as a four-star prospect.