Clemson football made the cut for one of the top players in the 2026 recruiting class on Wednesday afternoon as five-star linebacker Tyler Atkinson trimmed his list to four, but Dabo Swinney and Co. weren't done yet.
Around the same time that Atkinson released his top four, including Clemson, one of the Tigers' top 2027 targets also shared his top schools.
Top-40 offensive lineman Maxwell Hiller posted his top eight schools on Wednesday afternoon, including Clemson among yet another loaded group of programs.
Blue chip OL @HillerMaxwell has a top eight, and he explains how he got there https://t.co/EQ6DcDn4Hc pic.twitter.com/6vmcxVMFF6
— BrianDohn247 (@BrianDohn247) July 9, 2025
Clemson made the cut along with Penn State (the presumed favorite), Maryland, Ohio State, South Carolina, Georgia, Tennessee, and Alabama. The Tigers are the only ACC program on the list filled with SEC and Big Ten programs -- Maryland is the polar bear in Texas (out of place) on this list.
Considering the generational run that Matt Luke and the Tigers have been on in the 2026 recruiting class, this positive news is not all that shocking, but welcomed.
Luke has been one of the best offensive line recruiters in the country and he has landed one of the best classes in the entire country in the trenches for 2026. He's looking to build on that in 2027 and Hiller would be a fantastic get, especially considering the programs chasing him.
Hiller is a Pennsylvania native and he's ranked the No. 39 overall recruit and No. 3 interior offensive lineman in the 2027 class, per 247Sports.
The 6-foot-5, 300-pound interior lineman has been one of the most sought-after prospects in the class, holding over 30 offers as a soon-to-be high school junior. That's impressive.
Now that he's trimmed his list, he can figure out which schools he'd like to visit.
Matt Luke is a magician.