A wide receiver prospect with a connection to Clemson made his return to campus for the spring game.
2027 wideout Dayon Cooper (South Pittsburgh, TN) visited Clemson for the third time last Saturday. The 6-foot-1 receiver is a former teammate of three-star DE signee JR Hardrick, who will enroll this summer. The two made the trip to Clemson together.
“Getting to be on the sidelines, there was a lot of energy,” Cooper told The Clemson Insider. “Getting to watch all of the coaches and stuff. Especially watching my boy JR out there. You could tell he was at home. Everybody came up to him, showing him love. It was interesting and exciting watching that.”
In fact, Cooper and Hardrick are more than just former teammates. They are close friends. And they’ve talked for some time about playing together at the next level.
“He’s always teasing me, trying to be funny, talking about, ‘Come play with me,'” Cooper said. We always told each other we were going to play at the same college. But things change as you get older. He is actually the reason I went on the spring game visit.”
While Hardrick is set to join the team in the summer, Cooper’s path is yet to be decided.
He just started hearing from the Clemson coaching staff earlier this year, with most of the contact coming from wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham.
“Since then, we have been in touch ever since,” Cooper added. “He calls me. We always chop it up.”
The spring game was Cooper’s third time visiting. His first came late in the spring last year. He attended with Hardrick that day, too, who was also making his first campus visit. Cooper returned for the season-opener against LSU.
While he has yet to secure an offer from the Tigers, the young wideout knows if he reamins patient, one is likely to come.
“They told me it is a process,” Cooper said. “They don’t just give out offers to anybody. They want to go through the whole process. They want you to be on campus. Test your character and everything.”
Florida State and Tennessee are two schools that are recruiting Cooper hard. He says Vanderbilt and Louisville are showing a lot of interest, as well. The Volunteers and Seminoles are both scheduled to get official visits, too.
Despite not having the offer just yet, Cooper has also already locked in plans to give Clemson one of his official visits from May 12-14. That means the Tigers are extremely interested. The next step is officially getting that offer, and it’s one he wants.
“Of course, it shows how much the school is into you,” Cooper said. “It shows they are really serious about you and they really want you. Because they don’t give them out often.”
At this point, Cooper has not finalized a timeline for making a decision. When that time does come, relationships will matter.
“Definitely my relationship with the coach,” Cooper said. “Whatever feels like home to me. Brotherhood. The culture. That is really the main thing for me.”
