Mason Holtzclaw’s recruitment has already been one wild ride and it’s still nowhere close to being over.

The 6-foot-4 quarterback prospect was originally a member of the 2026 recruiting class. However, after deciding to transfer to Christ School in North Carolina, Holtzclaw reclassed to the 2027 class. Over his two seasons at Christ, Holtzclaw threw for 2,467 yards with 18 touchdowns and 22 interceptions. He completed 52% of his passes.

Now, Holtzclaw is on the move again after head coach Chad Walker left to take a college job at Pace University. The fast-rising signal-caller is making the move to Georgia and will now play at Carrollton.

However, with that move comes another reclassification, as Holtzclaw is once again going to be a member of the 2026 recruiting class.

“We were kind of looking around at a few schools, a few schools that caught our interest a little bit,” Holtzclaw told The Clemson Insider. “And Carrollton High School in Georgia was one of the schools that really caught our interest. With a great coaching staff, Coach Joey King there, he’s been doing a phenomenal job there, and with great players — great talent is going to be around me.”

Making the move to Carrollton, meant Holtzclaw would have to reclassify again. Due to transfer rules in the state of Georgia, he had to move back to 2026.

“We decided that with going to Georgia, I would have to reclass up a year,” Holtzclaw added. “Because I originally reclassed when I came up to Christ School, and then going to Georgia, I was not allowed to keep my reclass year. So we decided that reclassing up and still going there was going to be a great decision for me to develop my game a lot.”

Hotlclaw first reclassified because he felt like that was best for his development and after two years at Christ, the young quarterback feels like he’s been well-prepared to make the move back to 2026.

“When we first came up here to Christ school, getting into a new program, we felt like having another year of me getting bigger, stronger and faster and trying to get developed by the coach that was here, Joey King,” he said. “And over the past two years, he’s grown my game absolutely tremendously with knowing coverages, with me getting bigger and faster in the weight room. My game speed has just dramatically changed over that time. It’s been a great experience for me to reclass down, and now that we’ve reclassed up, we still feel like we’re really prepared to be at the college level. And getting into that college system is going to be great.”

The move to Carrollton also means taking over for record-setting quarterback Ju Ju Lewis, who recently signed with Colorado. Lewis was one of the top quarterbacks in the 2025 class.

Holtzclaw is fully aware that he has really big shoes to fill and he is embracing that challenge with open arms.

“Coming in and just playing the game that I know how to play,” Holtzclaw said. “I know they have great athletes around me that’s going to make me look good with receivers like Ryan Mosley and Peyton Zachary. Great receivers. A running back room that’s really good. The offensive line, the coaching staff is back. I feel like they’re going to all put me in the right position to succeed and head to the state championship, then go make a run at it.”

Holtzclaw has made several visits to Clemson since last summer. He worked out at Dabo Swinney’s high school camp in June and visited for multiple games in the season. South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia Tech, Georgia Tech and Florida State have all been heavily involved as well.

Although, with his latest reclassification, Holtzclaw knows it will impact his recruitment as far as Clemson is concerned. The Tigers already have two quarterbacks committed in the 2026 class, with 4-star Tait Reynolds and 3-star Brock Bradley committing last year.

At the same time, it’s not a door that Holtzclaw is completely closing.

“We’ve talked multiple times,” Holtzclaw said. “I visited probably four times over the football season, and we have called them. I know they have two 2026 commits, but nothing’s really official now — with the way the portal and NIL are working, nothing’s official until you sign the paper. So if one of them decommitted, and I did get that call, that would mean a lot.”