CLEMSON – For Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, the first day of fall camp each year is like “Christmas,” which makes the team weigh-in one day earlier resemble Christmas Eve. 

Juju Preston’s “Christmas present” this year was getting to show off his physical progress in front of the whole team at the Tigers’ Big Weigh-In Wednesday.

“(Preston) was so fired up. I mean, he’s out there flexing,” Swinney said of Preston’s weigh-in, though he did not disclose an exact weight.

“He’s progressing,” Swinney added. “He’s what you love about it, he’s the most confident he’s been because he’s the biggest and the strongest that he’s been.”

Last year, the wide receiver weighed in at 155 pounds as a true freshman. Before his time at Clemson, Preston was the all-time receiving touchdown leader in Virginia history with 67 trips to the end zone. This past spring, in Clemson’s annual Orange & White Spring Game, he posted two catches for 24 yards.

I thought it was amazing that all the fans and stuff came out to watch us play,” Preston said after his best performance at Memorial Stadium to date. “The atmosphere was great for it to be just a spring game.”

In the same interview, Preston commented on his weight, saying he hoped to be up to 175 pounds ahead of the season after reaching the 160-mark by the end of the spring. That kind of boost in physicality could help Preston see more opportunities for big moments in Death Valley in the next four years of his collegiate career.

“He’s still got a ways to go, but he’s got four years,” Swinney said. “And if he’ll hang in there, he ain’t ever gonna be 190. he’s just not. But I mean, he’s a highly, highly skilled kid and he can really run. He’s explosive. All of these natural attributes that he has will grow as he continues to develop physically, they’ll just get amplified.”

Preston is not alone in the process of bulking up, and even has an example of what “hanging in there” can look like within his position group. When starting wide receiver Bryant Wesco Jr. arrived on campus in 2024, he first weighed 182 pounds in the summer weigh-in. Just one year later, he was up to 195 pounds.

“Wesco showed up, ‘whoa, all right, he’s ready to play,’” Swinney said. “We just got to get him with (nutritionist) Megan (Turcotte). We got to get him with the nutrition and we got to grow a butt a little bit between now and August.”

Sure enough, Wesco went on to become a Freshman All-American that season, catching five touchdowns.

With one year of nutrition and training already under his belt, and with the new five-year eligibility in effect, Preston will not have a chance to earn freshman accolades this season. With a room loaded with talent, he also may not get the opportunity to start 11 games like Wesco did. Still, Swinney predicts a big future for the speedy wideout.

“He’ll probably flash this year this and that, but he’s just one of those guys if he hangs in there, you’ll look up four years from now and, whoa, he might only be 173, but he’ll be a stud,” Swinney said.