Four-star Traveon Freshwater’s phone has been blowing up since the calendar turned to September. Last Friday, Sept. 1 marked the first day that college coaches could start actively reaching out to junior prospective student-athletes, and the standout from Northeastern High in Elizabeth City, N.C., has been hearing a lot from different coaches.

“It’s all started coming at once,” Freshwater told The Clemson Insider. “Everybody’s showing a lot of love right now.”

Freshwater (6-3, 215) projects as a hybrid linebacker/defensive end at the next level. He carries offers from Michigan State, North Carolina, N.C. State, South Carolina and Virginia Tech among others, and more offers figure to be coming as recruiting for the class of 2019 continues to ramp up.

Clemson is among the schools showing interest and paid him a visit during the spring evaluation period. Freshwater has also communicated with Clemson this month.

“They texted me on Twitter,” he said. “They said they can start sending texts to me now since I’m a junior and Sept. 1 hit. They want to recruit me as well.”

Freshwater’s most recent unofficial visit occurred at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, N.C., on Saturday for South Carolina’s game against N.C. State.

He in the process of planning more visits for this season and has been thinking about getting to Clemson.

“I want to visit soon hopefully,” Freshwater said. “My coach said it was real nice, so I’m looking forward to going there for a game and seeing it as well.

“I love the way they play football. I want to feel the atmosphere.”

Clemson could be a big factor in Freshwater’s recruitment with an offer moving forward.

“To me it would mean a lot coming from Clemson, one of the top schools,” he said.

Freshwater was considering narrowing things down in his recruitment but has pumped the brakes following the flurry of recent interest.

“Not (planning to narrow it down) as of right now since there are more schools starting to text me,” he said. “As I’m going on trips I’ll narrow it down and as I visit schools and games and stuff I’ll evaluate them as I’m up there.”

While football is of course a critical part of Freshwater’s criteria as he looks at schools, it’s not the only thing that matters to him.

“The way they treat student-athletes is important,” he said. “I’m focused on more in a school than just football. I’m looking for a place that will make me become a better man as well.”

As a sophomore last season, Freshwater amassed 150 tackles and 22 sacks. He also rushed for 1,441 yards and 23 touchdowns.

He is ranked among the top-200 prospects in his class regardless of position.