This big-time defensive line prospect from Alabama has been feeling the love from Clemson.

Pike Road High School (Pike Road, Ala.) defensive tackle Malik Blocton, a class of 2024 standout, feels Clemson is among the trio of schools showing him the most interest at this point in the recruiting process.

“It’s Auburn, Clemson, Tennessee,” he told The Clemson Insider recently. “Them the main three.”

Blocton visited each of those schools during the college football season, along with Alabama and Alabama State.

The 6-foot-3, 270-pound junior traveled to Clemson for its comeback 27-21 win over Syracuse in October, when he picked up an offer from the Tigers while on campus.

“The thing that stands out to me was how they were able to pull that win off against Syracuse,” he said, reflecting on the visit, “because that was like a real close game, and how their defense stepped up at the end.”

Blocton believes he’d be a good fit for Clemson’s defensive line in the future, based on what he’s seen and how active the Tigers are up front.

“Yes sir, because they’re not stationary defensive linemen,” he said. “They move around a lot, they run a lot of stunts and that’s the type of defense I like playing for.”

He expects to return to Clemson for the program’s elite junior day later this month.

“I already have an offer to Clemson, so I really just want to view the campus, take pictures and stuff like that,” he said of what he hopes to get out of the visit.

Clemson defensive tackles coach Nick Eason stopped by Blocton’s school last month, and he recently called Eason to catch up with him over the phone.

“He was just trying to see how I was doing, how my family was doing and all that,” Blocton said of their conversation.

The two are very tight. Blocton received an offer from Auburn via Eason back in October 2021 when Eason was still on the coaching staff there, so they have a longstanding relationship, and it was Eason who conveyed Clemson’s offer to Blocton when he was on campus for the Syracuse game.

“Me and Coach Eason have had a close bond since he was at Auburn,” Blocton said. “He was the one who offered me at Auburn. That was like my first Power Five offer. Me and Coach Eason have always had a strong bond.”

Eason recruited and coached Blocton’s older brother, current Auburn defensive lineman Marcus Harris, and Blocton feels his relationship with Eason is “definitely the strongest” of any coach recruiting him.

“He coached my brother and he’s real close with my family,” Blocton said. “He makes his business to be personable and not treat me like just another recruit, just another football player – he makes it personal.”

This past November, Blocton – who boasts more than two dozen scholarship offers – released a top 12 comprised of Clemson, Arkansas, South Carolina, Alabama State, Auburn, Missouri, Jackson State, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland and Tennessee.

As for where Clemson stands among his favorites, the Tigers are in the upper half of that top group according to Blocton.

“Like top six,” he said.

Blocton, who said he’s still in the process of figuring out when he will make his commitment decision, is coming off a strong junior campaign during which he accumulated 109 total tackles (70 solo), 12 sacks and two strip-sacks.

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