A young defender from the Volunteer State, who saw his recruitment start to take off earlier this year, traveled to Tiger Town for the first time recently.

East Robertson High School (Cross Plains, Tenn.) class of 2026 edge rusher Zach Groves made an unofficial visit to Clemson for the Oct. 7 game vs. Wake Forest.

It’s safe to say he came away very impressed by the visit.

“It was very nice, one of the best college facilities I’ve seen,” Groves told The Clemson Insider. “Looking forward to going back. Saw a lot of great things. Everybody seems like good people. Just one of the best colleges I went to.”

Groves is the younger brother of class of 2024 linebacker Elijah Groves, a Kentucky commitment, and uncommitted class of 2025 running back Isaiah Groves, who has offers from Kentucky, Missouri and NC State among others.

Isaiah accompanied Zach on the trip to Clemson for the Wake Forest game.

“My brother really enjoyed it,” Zach said. “We were talking about how nice it is up there. I really do think he loves it.”

For Zach personally, the highlight of the visit was seeing the energy of Clemson’s team on the field, and he also enjoyed experiencing the Death Valley atmosphere during the Tigers’ 17-12 victory over the Demon Deacons.

“All the players are involved in the game, cheering on each other. Just crazy to see the energy,” he said. “The atmosphere was good. Can’t wait to see what a night game would be like in Death Valley.”

Groves feels Clemson is showing a good bit of early interest in him, based on what he heard from defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall while on campus.

“(Hall was) telling me I need to come back up there, talk more about football, how great I can be, talking my Hudl (highlight film), how great of a player I am and how good my grades are,” Groves said.

The 6-foot-4, 225-pound sophomore’s recruiting stock began to rise this summer when he received offers from Tennessee, Kentucky and NC State in July after picking up his first power conference offer from Purdue in June and his first FBS offers from UAB and Charlotte in May.

Clemson won’t start offering class of 2026 prospects until next year, but Groves would be grateful to get one of those offers from the Tigers down the road.

“It would mean a lot,” he said.

Groves isn’t sure when he will make it back to Clemson for another visit but said “hopefully it’s soon.”

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