Asher Ghioto was blown away by his first visit to Clemson.

The five-star DE (Bolles School, FL) visited with high school teammate and current Clemson commit Naeem Burroughs back in June, and quickly knew he wanted to get back for a game.

Ghioto, who is already one of the top players in the 2028 class, has already locked in plans for that visit, and will be on hand when the No. 4 Tigers host No. 9 LSU on August 30 to kick off the season.

“I am super excited to see the environment,” Ghioto told The Clemson Insider. “I am excited to see how the team deals with game day, especially a big game day like that. Just seeing them go out there and seeing where their heads are at for an opening game against a big team like LSU.”

Being a defensive lineman, Ghioto is very acquainted with the track record Clemson has with developing those kinds of players. It is one of the biggest things that makes the Tigers attractive.

“Their history, and all the history of the defensive linemen,” Ghioto said. “We got to go back there and see all the defensive line alumni, where they have all their stuff. The locker rooms. The history speaks for itself. The D-line room that has been there has always been great. It’s never been like they have an ‘ahh, whatever,’ defensive line. Those have always been top guys. And it just continues.”

Not to mention the glowing reviews Burroughs has given him when it comes to Clemson.

“After the first visit, he knew it was home,” Ghioto said. “There wasn’t any question. You could tell he was locked in on Clemson. He has told me how much of a family it is there. How much he loves it. How much they will develop you, not only as a player but as a human, and that is also really important to me. Then, the faith aspect, which is huge for me in a football program. I need a lot of people who are devoted to their faith around me and I think Clemson is the perfect program for that.”

Standing 6-foot-5 and already weighing 245 pounds, Ghioto possesses all of the physical attributes. Add that to his sheer talent, and he’s quickly become one of the most coveted players in his class.

247 ranks him No. 29 overall, No. 4 among all defensive linemen and No. 4 in the talent-rich state of Florida.

Ghioto already holds more than 40 offers, with Southern Cal, Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio State and Notre Dame being just a few of the schools to have already pulled the trigger.

Clemson rarely offers players before the start of their junior years, meaning the Tigers are about the only major program to not have offered yet. While some might see that as Clemson being late to the party, that isn’t how Ghioto views it. He actually has a great admiration for how Dabo Swinney handles the recruiting process.

“They have a tradition and they are not going to break that,” Ghioto said. “I respect that. Because I don’t want them to bend around the changes that are going on in the recruiting environment period. It used to be that way for most everyone. I honestly like that they are not bending to what everyone else does. They are keeping tradition, tradition.”

In fact, the way Ghioto sees it, the staff is already recruiting him like he has an offer. However, when that time does come, that won’t make it mean any less.

“Man, that would mean a lot to me,” Ghioto said. “We are already building a relationship like I have a scholarship offer right now. It would definitely be one of my top schools. Talking to Naeem, as soon as he got the offer, he knew that was home. So I am very intrigued and very excited to keep building this relationship over the year.”

Photo courtesy of Asher Ghioto on X (formerly known as Twitter)