Meet the Two Baseball Recruits Visiting Clemson This Weekend

With football season in full swing and basketball season right around the corner, there's still room to talk about what's happening on the baseball recruiting trail.

On Wednesday, it was reported that a pair of Clemson targets will be in Tigertown this weekend, including 2028 outfielder/right-handed pitcher Dexter McCleon Jr. and 2027 right-handed pitcher/third baseman Cullen Scott.

With that, let's take a look at who each recruit is, as well as what they could potentially bring to the program within the next year or two.

Dexter McCleon Jr.

The versatile athlete is regarded as one of the best players in the 2028 class, ranking as the No. 5 overall recruit, according to Perfect Game.

He attends national football powerhouse Buford High School, and while his stats aren't available, his physical tools and event numbers show why he's thought so highly of.

Standing 6-foot-3 and 203 pounds, McCleon already stands out physically, and his tools back it up. His fastball tops out at 98 mph, putting him in the 100th percentile and among the best arms in his class.

"Took a turn on the mound and showed his arm strength well, topped out at 93 mph with a very fast arm, has good tempo to his delivery and heavy fastball life down in the zone," a Perfect Game scout said. "Slider was a solid second pitch thrown for strikes, also flashed a change-up. Would be a premium pitching prospect if not for his elite bat speed and athleticism."

He's also one of the class's top athletes, posting a 6.41 in the 60-yard dash (99.84th percentile) and a 1.53 10-yard split (97.54th percentile).

Defensively, he's just as impressive, with a 90 mph outfield throw (95.96th percentile) and a 94 mph infield throw (99.78th percentile). At the plate, he's reached a 96 mph exit velocity (98.18th percentile).

"Right-handed hitter, starts with an open front side with a knee lift trigger," his scouting report continued. "Can get tighter with his lower half turns, has outstanding raw bat speed and easy power to all fields, highest level hitting tools."

Over the past month or so, he's already taken four official visits, those being to Vanderbilt, Georgia, Texas and LSU. Now, Clemson and head coach Erik Bakich will get their shot, and they might even have a slight edge due to McCleon's family background.

McCleon's father, Dexter (Sr.), was also a star baseball player coming out of high school and was even selected by the Minnesota Twins in the 13th round of the 1993 MLB Draft. However, he declined the opportunity and began his collegiate career as a dual-sport athlete at Clemson, playing both baseball and football.

He had an extremely successful career on the gridiron for the Tigers from 1993 to 1996, earning First-team All-ACC honors as a senior, which led to his selection by the Saint Louis Rams with the 40th overall pick in the 1997 NFL Draft.

Though McCleon's father took a different career path, there's clearly a familiarity between Clemson and the top-five 2028 prospect, which gives the Tigers some optimism of landing him down the road.

Cullen Scott

Similar to McCleon Jr., Scott is one of the top players in his respective class, ranking as the No. 9 overall player in 2027, according to Perfect Game.

Scott was originally part of the 2028 class, but just over a month ago, he reclassified for "college purposes." The move wasn't impulsive, though; it was a long, well-considered decision. The newly minted senior said the idea first crossed his mind last summer and only grew stronger after he added 20 pounds and put together a stellar sophomore season.

Now, he's looking for a program that is willing to help him develop as a two-way player, and Clemson could be one of them, considering the Tigers had a pair of two-way players last season in Dylan Harrison and Talan Bell, who has since transferred to UCF.

With that out of the way, let's get into his production from the 2026 season.

As a sophomore at Melissa High School (Tx.), Scott excelled in every phase of the game, hitting .540 with a 1.668 OPS, striking out 93 batters with a 2.10 ERA on the mound, and handling 65 total chances in the field with just one error. He also set school records of 67 hits, 12 home runs and eight triples while leading the Cardinals to a UIL 5A D1 regional finals appearance.

"Sets up in a balanced spread stance, low effort easy swing with big bat speed and juice, was well timed, made the field look small in both batting practice and the games, top of the scale impact," his most recent scouting report said.

The 6-foot-3, 225-pound dual-threat also has extremely impressive event numbers, topping a 98 mph fastball (99.99%) and an 89 mph exit velocity (82.42%).

"Sink and angle to the fastball with arm-side life," the scouting report continued. "Short lateral break to the slider with good action, fade and run on the change, lots of feel and overpowered hitters."

His athleticism and defensive expertise have also been on display, posting a 6.85-second 60-yard dash (89.97%), a 1.52-second 10-yard split (97.39%) and a 98 mph infield throw (99.97%).

Scott has taken official visits to Oregon, Texas A&M and Florida.

Enjoy our content? Make ClemsonOnSI a preferred source to see more stories from us on Google by clicking here.

Add us as a preferred source on Google