CLAYTON, N.C. — Keshawn Stancil has been one of the more heavily pursued defensive linemen in the 2026 recruiting class.

The four-star talent has more than 40 offers in total, with schools like Georgia, Penn State, Tennessee and Miami just a few of the schools that were recruiting Stancil hard. The 6-foot-3, 265-pound prospect would eventually whittle his list down to five, taking official visits to Georgia, Penn State, Miami, Clemson and NC State.

Once those final round of visits were complete, it wouldn’t take the blue-chip talent long to render a verdict, with Stancil announcing a commitment to Clemson on Saturday during a ceremony at his high school.

“I ain’t got too much weight on my shoulders now, I can focus on just one school,” Stancil told The Clemson Insider after the announcement. “I can finish my high school season and get going. Being a kid with 40-something offers, you hear from a lot of people every day. It gets really overwhelming. You just have to take your time through everything.”

Stancil just picked up his offer from Clemson at the end of May. Although, just because he didn’t have the offer didn’t mean Nick Eason wasn’t recruiting him hard. Eason really amped up the pressure earlier this year, getting Stancil to visit for the Elite Retreat in March.

While he didn’t leave with an offer, Stancil knew one was coming at some point, as long as he met certain benchmarks academically. Once he did that, the offer came as promised, and Stancil gives Eason a lot of the credit for helping him get there.

“I was going through a situation with my grades and stuff,” Stancil said. “Coach Eason — that is what really made me choose Clemson. You never really get a coach that pushes you to your limits academically. They push you to your limits athletically, but this was academically as well. He was with me throughout the whole process.”

And his relationship with Eason gets a little stronger with each conversation.

“We just stayed in touch and kept our relationship strong. It gets stronger every time we talk. We can be on the phone for 45 minutes, and we might talk about football two times. That is what really made me choose my decision.”

As a junior, Stancil was downright dominant. He was credited with 63 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and nine sacks.

Landing a player of that caliber is huge for Eason and Clemson. Being a Top 200 talent overall, Stancil provides a big boost to the Tigers’ 2026 class, which was already well inside the Top 10 nationally. On top of that, getting that type of talent also helps ensure Eason will be able to reload on the interior of that defensive line a year or two from now.

Stancil plans to graduate from high school in December and enroll early at Clemson. While he is very much looking forward to one more season at Clayton, at the same time, he’s anxious to begin the next chapter in his football journey. He feels like he’s going to be a great fit in Dabo Swinney’s program.

“The culture is really great there,” Stancil said. “The hospitality is great. Most head coaches, it’s like ‘hey, nice to meet you.’ But coach Swinney… he is going to open up with open arms. He is just going to love you from the time you get there until the time you leave. I love coach Swinney.”

And the one thing he is looking forward to the most might just be his first time getting to run down the hill.

“I am going to jump down that hill, man,” Stancil said, laughing. “I am going to jump down that hill.”