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Zion Williamson, the 5-star small forward out of Spartanburg Day School announced that he would be visiting Clemson on September 9th via an Instagram post this morning reading “I visit Clemson Saturday, where my Tiger fans at?” with a photo of Williamson sporting a #12 Clemson jersey. The photo has since been removed from Instagram, sparking conversation of whether the visit this weekend will actually occur.
Zion is rated as the 2nd overall recruit in the country according to Scout.com, and is certain to be a one-and-done, but would drastically boost the recruiting power of the Tigers under head coach Brad Brownell, who has been wooing the Small Forward for quite some time, and will have to keep him away from Duke and Kentucky. Williamson obviously wants to check out Clemson during the upcoming nationally televised football game against Auburn, but the visit may come into question due to the approach of Hurricane Irma, which has put the game in jeopardy. The University released a statement on Thursday stating that at this time, the game will continue according to schedule, but the situation will be continually monitored.
Clemson’s recruiting woes over the past decade have come largely from the fact that they have not been able to lock down the talent in their home state of South Carolina, with major recruits heading to North Carolina and losing out on other prize recruits to rival South Carolina. Going back to 2003, the state of South Carolina has produced 21 players with ratings of 4-stars or higher, and the Tigers have managed to only land 3 of these players. (Milton Jennings in 2009, Devin Booker in 2009 and AJ Oliver in 2016) The rival Gamecocks have nabbed twice that, while North Carolina has nabbed two of the three 5-stars (Raymond and Jalek Felton) that the state has produced.
We will keep you updated on the developing visit as more news becomes available. Sound off on the comments below if Brad Brownell can manage to keep Zion Williamson in state, an the impact that it will have on the program.