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Clemson Tuesday publicly landed another top prospect from the state of Georgia when DE AJ Hoffler (6-5 240) of College Park announced his commitment to the Tigers. The recruiting battle for Hoffler basically boiled down to the Tigers and Ohio State. Clemson, however, was his only official visit which he made the weekend of June 3rd, and that was a big step toward his ultimate decision.
“I chose Clemson because of the family atmosphere and the way they treated my mom, my dad, my grandparents, everyone around me, including me. It was just us having a good feel there, getting to meet a bunch of important people, that’s probably the main thing.”
Hoffler made multiple unofficial visits to Clemson as well during the process, so he had a very good feeling about the school and the program as he worked his way down his list of opportunities.
“I would just say I just felt at home, and I know that aside from football, they will prepare me for a better life,” Hoffler said. “And then the school itself, if you were to take football away, I think they would do the best job preparing me for life off the field.”
Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall built a strong relationship with Hoffler during the recruiting process, and he’s excited about the opportunity to be coached by him, and the opportunity for some early playing time with the Tigers losing several players from the defensive end positions.
“That’s something that I looked at,” Hoffler said. “It wasn’t too high on my list, but it was definitely something I looked at as far as considering Clemson, because it is something that I love to play as a freshman, and I know they’re losing a bunch of guys. So that open spot is definitely intriguing. It wasn’t too high, it wasn’t a deciding factor, was on my list of things to consider for them.”
