A versatile athlete drawing interest from Clemson made his return trip to campus last weekend.
F.W. Bucholz (Gainesville, Fla.) three-star Creed Whittemore attended the Tigers’ second junior day of the year – their “spring elite day” – last Saturday and came away from the visit very impressed.
“It was awesome,” Whittemore told The Clemson Insider. “I think everybody would tell you that they had a great time. There wasn’t a lot of us, which I think everybody liked. Going to someplace and then having like 100 kids is never a good sign. Everybody enjoyed it. I had a great time. We were there all day, but it only felt like a couple of hours.”
Whittemore thoroughly enjoyed his first visit to campus back in January and told TCI as such. This weekend took it up a notch. Whittemore was able to experience a bit more, take in spring practice and spend some time with Clemson wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham.
“Like I said, I really enjoyed it,” he said. “I thought there were some good things to take away. I enjoyed watching Coach Grisham coach. He’s a lot like some of the guys I’ve been coached by. The atmosphere, you can’t get enough of it. I think I’m speaking for everybody that went, it felt like a real family atmosphere and a place that can be home for a lot of us.”
While he was able to spend some time with Grisham on his previous visit to campus, Saturday offered the opportunity to watch him in a coaching setting.
“That’s kind of what I thought he’d be like, just from his personality,” Whittmore said of Grisham. “Like I said, my dad kind of coaches like that, high energy. He’s gonna tell you what you did wrong and is not gonna let anything fly, but he’s also very uplifting and side bumps his receivers after a good catch. Stuff like that, which as a player you like, because you know you’re getting coached at the highest level, but you’re also having a good time doing it.”
Grisham has oftentimes compared Whittemore to Clemson sophomore wide receiver Will Taylor, who also played quarterback in high school. Taylor played in five games last season before suffering a season-ending ACL injury in late October.
The two-sport athlete is still in the process of rehabbing from his injury, so Whittemore was unable to see that comparison in person, but he was able to watch Brannon Spector man the slot.
“I think I relate a lot to him and also Will (Taylor) and Troy (Stellato),” Whittemore said, “and I think they use those guys really well, which is encouraging for me.”
Before Clemson offers Whittemore, they want to see him run routes in person.
As we’ve previously reported, Grisham will head down to the Sunshine State sometime later this spring to do so. Clemson is not the only school that has yet to offer Whittemore because they want to see him run routes in person.
“As a quarterback, you can’t really complain,” he said. “Obviously, if I was a coach, I probably wouldn’t offer a kid that I’d never seen run before. I don’t take it personally at all. He’ll come down this spring and watch me run routes. I think we’ve grown our relationship like I do have an offer right now, just because when he does offer me, he already wants to have the ball rolling.”
Whittemore is appreciative of the level of honesty that he’s received from Grisham and the Tigers. He believes that Clemson is being very upfront and that they mean what they say.
“I feel like they really like me,” he said, “and I could see that when I went up there this weekend. I was thinking that I was going to Junior Day, but in reality, there were only three receivers there and I think that speaks for itself.
Whittemore knew that being on campus this past weekend was a sign that he was part of an elite group of prospects. The other two wideouts on campus were Hickory Ridge (Harrisburg, N.C.) four-star Christian Hamilton and Maiden (N.C.) High School three-star Chris Culliver.
Whittemore indicated that he could see himself playing with those guys in the future.
Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!