Clemson added a huge piece to its 2026 recruiting class on Sunday.

Four-star safety Blake Stewart (Woodward, Atlanta, GA) announced his commitment to the Tigers, giving Clemson Mickey Conn a big recruiting win over Michigan and Miami. Vanderbilt was the other finalist.

Stewart becomes the third blue-chip safety to announce a verbal pledge in the current class, joining Kaden Gebhardt (Olentangy, OH) and Kentavion Anderson (Dorman, SC).

On top of the big recruiting win, it gives Conn what is arguably his best class of safeties since being promoted to his current position in 2017.

Anderson, out of nearby Dorman, certainly thinks so, taking to X to proclaim, “We got the best secondary in the country.”

Gebhardt echoed those sentiments with a quick, “Best in the country,” post on the same social media platform.

Whether this is the best class of safeties in the nation is kind of subjective, but at the very least, it’s hard to argue against it being one of the best across the country.

For his latest conquest, Conn went into familiar territory to land Stewart. And he beat out both Michigan and Miami, two schools known to be aggressive in the current NIL landscape. This comes after he beat out Penn State for Gebhardt and the rival Gamecocks for the in-state talent in Anderson.

Conn has absolutely killed it on the trail in this class. The veteran assistant has, at times, been a point of contention inside the Clemson fan base, with some questioning his ability to recruit. However, once again, Conn is proving his detractors wrong, while at the same time setting the backend of the Clemson defense up for future success.

2026 Safety Commitments

• Four-star Kentavion Anderson: No. 73 overall (On3)
• Four-star Blake Stewart: No. 149 overall (Rivals)
• Four-star Kaden Gebhardt: No. 215 overall (Rivals)

Photo courtesy of Kentavion Anderson on Instagram