Xavier McKinney spent an afternoon in Clemson last June for the Dabo Swinney Football Camp.

While visiting again in July, Clemson offered. As he was leaving campus, Alabama pulled the trigger.

Even though he’s now committed to the Tide, McKinney is still open to the option of playing his college ball at Clemson. He was among the guests on campus for last month’s Junior Day.

“It was a good visit. I went there with my mom and my brother. My mom, that was her first time being there — we liked it a lot. We like it all the time we go down there, so it was good,” McKinney said.

Several of the coaches spoke with the four-star safety from Roswell, Ga. What was their message?

“Finding the right school, even if it’s not their school, finding the right school and giving the message about life after football — it’s something they emphasize a lot on at Clemson,” McKinney said.

The 6-1, 185-pound prospect is listed by 247 as the No. 15 ranked safety in the class of 2017. Like all of the recruiting networks, Clemson thinks an awful lot of McKinney, who’s a teammate of four-star Clemson commitment LeAnthony Williams Jr.

“They talk a lot about how much I would play if I came — as a freshman,” McKinney said. “I can play all four positions. They like that I can do that, so they think they can put me anywhere on the field. They talked about that a lot.”

Georgia and Florida hosted McKinney for visits last week.

As a junior, he had 111 total tackles and nine interceptions.

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