Cavin Bates is no stranger to Clemson. The 2028 defensive tackle has been attending Dabo Swinney’s high school camp for the past seven years.

However, with Bates about to start his junior year at Cleburne County (AL), he knew this camp was a little more important, since it’s when the Tigers start extending offers to recruits in the 2028 class. Only he didn’t realize exactly how memorable this stop would ultimately be.

While he was working out during one of the sessions over the weekend, Swinney came up to him and said something he wasn’t quite expecting coming in.

“We were in defensive line drills, and Coach Dabo came over there and pulled me out,” Bates told The Clemson Insider “He said, ‘You are a class of ’28 right? He said your uncle coaches at Oklahoma, right?’ I said, ‘Yes, sir.’ Then he said, ‘You are going to be our fifth offer right here because you are the best D-tackle here.’ He kept coming up to me in one-on-ones, and I had a few more words with him.”

Bates’ uncle is Todd Bates, who was the defensive tackles coach at Clemson from 2017-21. He left the Upstate when Brent Venables took the head coaching gig at Oklahoma following the 2021 season. He has served as Venables’ co-defensive coordinator and defensive tackles coach since.

Bates has always had an admiration for the way Swinney runs his program. Despite the minor connection to the program, the 6-foot-2, 280-pounder was caught off guard by picking up one of the Tigers’ opening offers.

“Clemson has always been a big school for me,” he said. “Because I basically grew up going down there all the time. So, I was really shocked when Coach Dabo said that they were going to offer me. It was really just a big moment.”

Bates has also worked out at West Virginia, North Carolina State, Auburn and Georgia Tech. He plans to camp at Oklahoma with his uncle on Tuesday. The Yellow Jackets and Wolfpack represent his other Power-4 offers at this early stage. Jacksonville State, Tulane, Samford and Georgia Southern are some of his other offers.

While he’s still extremely early in the process, Bates says there is something about Clemson that stands out. Unsurprisingly, it’s the strong, faith-based family-like culture inside the program.

“I would say just the way they carry themselves,” Bates said. “Coach Dabo’s main thing is about the Lord, and that is all I have grown up around.”