Clemson's genuine approach to recruiting resonates with Georgia lineman

Stephiylan Green committed to Clemson two days ago.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Fri Jun 24 08:00:06 GMT-04:00 2022

Stephiylan Green has superhuman strength, but he’s also a high school prospect who recognizes a genuine program when he sees one.

Green, a 4-star defensive lineman out of Rome (GA), committed to Clemson on Wednesday evening, giving the Tigers their 11th pickup in the Class of 2023 since June 6. Green committed to Clemson over Tennessee, Ole Miss, Alabama, Georgia and Ohio State. He is the nation's No. 212 prospect and the No. 31 defensive lineman, per the 247Sports Composite rankings.

Green's commitment gives Clemson three defensive lineman from Georgia and the Tigers' second pickup at that position this week. Four-star lineman AJ Hoffler committed to the Tigers on Tuesday.

Green took an official visit to Clemson earlier in the month, from June 3-5. He is Clemson's 14th commitment in the class and the eighth on defense.

His coach at Rome, John Reid, said Green is even better than the recruiting sites know.

“He's been a project of mine for quite some time, and we don't really get into all the camping and all the stars and all that,” Reid said. “This kid is a lot better than what people understand. First of all, he plays the state of Georgia at the highest level, and he is really fast and really strong. He'll probably play at Clemson at around 300 pounds. He’s about 275 pounds right now. He's got weight, room strength, but then he's got this superhuman strength and he's got a great get off. He's super powerful. Like I said, he's got great top end speed. He'll run some crazy numbers at 275 or 300 pounds.”

Reid said that Green has been different than other high school players since they first met.

“Well, as a high school coach, and I'm not only his head coach, but I'm his position coach, so I coach him on a daily basis as a d-lineman. And I think that all high school kids are projects, but he was one that just really wasn't,” Reid said. “I thought that he could really be a great football player, and I just kept investing time in him and him and me, and this is the end result.”

Reid then detailed a big reason why Clemson was able to land Green.

“Nothing against any of the programs, because when we get it down to Ole Miss, down to Alabama, Georgia, Ohio St., and I think Tennessee was in the mix, there's a couple of facts that came in, and I think one of the biggest things was a kid walks on the campus and I think they got to get a feel and I think they do a good job to get that kid,” he said. "But I also think Clemson has a genuine approach to recruiting a kid and keeping them on campus and getting their education. They challenged him to get his grades up, and he didn't have bad grades, but they wanted to see if he put some effort in the classroom to get 90s. And he did -- and that was big for him because he thought that meant that he really mattered to them.”