As summer starts to wind down, the college football season will be here before you know it. When it comes to the Clemson Tigers, they are still trying to secure their first commitment of the 2028 cycle. While three-star quarterback Trey Wright was crystal balled to the Tigers late last week, somebody else might beat him to the punch. We need to keep our eyes peeled for Trace Hawkins on Thursday.
Rivals' Chad Simmons announced on Monday afternoon that Hawkins will be announcing on July 30.
🚨NEWS🚨 2028 4-star QB Trace Hawkins will announce his commitment on July 30, @ChadSimmons_ reports.
— Rivals (@Rivals) July 27, 2026
Duke, Clemson, LSU, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech are the finalists.
Read: https://t.co/2tyBDNzLIH pic.twitter.com/9tJdk6DUgn
As stated above, Clemson is one of the five programs Hawkins will be choosing from on Thursday.
- Clemson Tigers
- Duke Blue Devils
- LSU Tigers
- Vanderbilt Commodores
- Virginia Tech Hokies
To make things even better for Clemson, a myriad of crystal ball predictions have come in with all signs pointing to Hawkins committing to the Tigers on Thursday. Simmons locked in a prediction for Hawkins to commit to Clemson on Monday afternoon at 65-percent confidence. A little later on, his colleague Sam Spiegelman also predicted Hawkins will go to Clemson with 65-percent confidence.
According to the 247Sports Composite, Hawkins is the No. 37 player from Georgia, the No. 20 quarterback in the country, and the No. 295 overall prospect in the 2028 recruiting cycle. He has 17 official offers, but is primarily looking at Clemson, Duke, LSU, Vanderbilt, and Virginia Tech coming in. Kentucky is also listed as "warm" on his 247Sports profile, but he does not seem interested in them.
With one prediction after another coming in for Hawkins to commit to Clemson, hopefully it happens.
2028 4-star QB Trace Hawkins on the verge of committing to Clemson
While Wright had been crystal balled to Clemson only a few days before the slew of predictions came in for Hawkins, it is interesting how much the Tigers are prioritizing making a quarterback their first commitment of the cycle. Hawkins has the better recruiting ranking over Wright, but there is a non-zero chance both would commit to Clemson. Spiegelman putting his name next to both is significant.
Given that Chad Morris and Tajh Boyd are his two main recruiters to Clemson as well, this just goes to show that Hawkins could end up becoming part of the Clemson family sooner rather than later. More importantly, he hails from the same neck of the woods as the Tigers' greatest quarterback prospect ever in one Trevor Lawrence. Deshaun Watson also hailed from the northern part of Georgia as well.
Overall, it serves Clemson to get somebody locked in early to help solidify a foundation for its 2028 class. Whether it be Hawkins, Wright, or somebody else entirely, it really does not matter. Yes, it may be better if the prospect is a quarterback, but Clemson cannot afford to get behind the eight ball in the 2028 cycle. The Tigers have done a fine job of taking back what is theirs and then some for 2027.
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Ultimately, Clemson needs to find the right kind of prospects who want to commit to the football program early, and build from there. This has been a recipe for success under Dabo Swinney. While Clemson may need to get more modern with its recruiting tactics, it still puts out the vibes, and many prospective recruits are digging them. Right now, we can expect for a quarterback to commit soon.
Do not be shocked if Hawkins becomes the first recruit to commit to Clemson during the 2028 cycle.
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