Clemson football: 3 things we learned from the inaugural Elite Retreat

The Clemson football program hosted its inaugural Elite Retreat this past weekend and saw a dozen highly-touted prospects on campus for a weekend that made an impression in a big way.

The Tigers had gone more than a year without being able to host recruits on campus as part of the NCAA’s Dead Period and that clearly hurt recruiting in a big way. The family atmosphere and the culture that has been built in Clemson simply wasn’t able to be displayed virtually the same as it is in-person.

With visits now allowed again, though, the Tigers have been taking full advantage.

Here’s a look at three things we learned from this past weekend’s major recruiting event- The Elite Retreat.

3. Many top 2022 targets are now identified for Clemson football

There were 12 notable prospects who were on campus for this weekend’s event.

On the offensive side of the ball, Clemson had its four commitments (QB Cade Klubnik, WR Adam Randall, OL Collin Sadler and OL Blake Miller). The lone uncommitted offensive prospect to make the trip was 4-star RB Trevor Etienne, the little brother of Travis Etienne.

Seeing Etienne on campus and the focus that the Tigers are putting on him as their running back target tells us that he is going to be at the top of their board at the position.

On the defensive side of the ball, here’s a look at the prospects who were in attendance:

• 5-star DT Travis Shaw
• 5-star CB Jeadyn Lukus
• 4-star CB Toriano Pride
• 4-star DE D.J. Wesolak
• 4-star DT Caden Curry
• 4-star S Sherrod Covil
• 4-star S Keon Sabb

If you want to know where the Tigers’ focus is at, just look at those who were able to attend the Elite Retreat. It’s not an all-inclusive list, but it does give a glimpse to the top targets in this class and who Clemson is currently recruiting the hardest.