Taurean Rawlins recently made his first visit to Clemson.
The three-star wideout (Mount Vernon, GA) was on campus for the spring. Rawlins had just begun hearing from the Clemson coaching staff in late February, so the relationships were still in the early stages.
However, it didn’t take Rawlins very long to start feeling right at home, something he says isn’t always so easy for him.
“The one thing that really stood out was how welcoming it was,” Rawlins told The Clemson Insider. “You would have thought that I knew people way before that visit but I didn’t. It was just really nice. I am a pretty introverted person as it is, but it did not take me long to warm to everybody that was there. It just felt like a very welcoming atmosphere.”
And he has very positive early impressions of wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham.
“I can tell Coach Grisham is a great guy,” Rawlins said. “He seems very upbeat. He just loves what he does. A good person to be around.”
Rawlins liked the visit so much that he’s already scheduled an official visit to Clemson. That will take place June 12-14, and he’s coming despite not yet having an offer from the Tigers.
“Coach Grisham has made it really clear about the process. That Clemson does it very differently,” Rawlins added. “He has made it clear that I am a top priority but that they do things pretty differently over there and to just trust the process. He just wants to build that great relationship before that. He had made it clear that I am a potential offer guy. I am just letting things play out.”
The more Rawlins learns about the recruiting process at Clemson, the more he likes it.
“I kind of like it,” Rawlins said. “It makes me feel more valued as a player because it is very easy for a school to just call up a kid and say that he has an offer, but with Clemson, you kind of know they doing a really deep-dive on you. They are not going to invest in somebody that they don’t actually see has the potential to go there. That is how I think about it.”
Rawlins was accompanied by his mother and two younger brothers during the visit to the spring game, and the way his siblings were treated made an impression. Not to mention the staff putting on the full-court press over the past few weeks.
“That first impression that I had of everybody,” Rawlins said. “They treated my little brothers great. It just felt right when I was there. And the day Coach Grisham contacted me, it’s been a lot of people from Clemson contacting me.”
As a sophomore, the 6-foot wideout posted just under 1,400 receiving yards with 17 touchdown grabs. He averaged close to 21 yards per catch and 127 yards per game.
Georgia and South Carolina are also set to get official visits. While Rawlins maintains he’s not really started to rank the schools just yet, he is working with a list of favorites, and Clemson is no doubt one of those few. When that offer eventually comes, that will cement the Tigers as legitimate contenders.
“I haven’t really put things in any order yet, but I will say Clemson is definitely, definitely up there and it will only get more up there when I do get the offer,” Rawlins said. “I have definitely built a great relationship over there, and they are definitely one of my highest considered choices.
Photo courtesy of Taurean Rawlins on X (formerly known as Twitter)