Four-Star 2028 Interior Offensive Lineman Places Clemson in Top Three

The Tigers are the early favorite to land one of the nation's best interior offensive lineman.

Four-star 2028 IOL Sam Walker has released his top three schools, including Clemson alongside South Carolina and Georgia Tech. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

Just days after landing its first commitment of the 2028 class in four-star quarterback Trace Hawkins, another priority target for Clemson is drawing closer to his college decision.

On Sunday afternoon, Central (Ga.) interior offensive lineman Sam Walker released his top three schools, including Clemson alongside rival South Carolina and Georgia Tech, per his X (Formerly Twitter) account.

The 6-foot-4, 320-pound lineman is rated a consensus four-star prospect, ranking as the No. 53 overall player, the No. 4 player at his position and the No. 8 recruit in the state of Georgia, according to Rivals rankings.

#AGTG where’s home!!!!🏠 @ChadSimmons_ @247Sports @On3 @GradickSports @CoachUBrown @CoachBelew14 @CoachPostelle @CoachCamBrewer @mauldin_brayden pic.twitter.com/QEf1dPBJvR

— 4🌟Sam “BigSam” Walker 2028 OL (@Matthew29990747) August 2, 2026

Walker plays ball at Central High School in Carrollton, Georgia, where he’s been one of the anchors for their offensive line across the past two seasons.

He first broke out during his freshman season, picking up his first four offers by February 2025 from Appalachian State, Kennesaw State, Georgia Southern and Tennessee. That spring, he visited the Eagles, the Volunteers and the Alabama Crimson Tide before adding offers from South Carolina in May and Georgia in June.

The Georgia native then visited the Bulldogs for their season-opener against Marshall in September. His recruitment continued to gain traction throughout his junior season, adding an offer from the Crimson Tide during their contest against Vanderbilt and taking additional visits to schools such as Florida State, Georgia Tech and South Carolina.

Following season’s end, he earned four-star status and continued earning offers from Power Four programs like Florida, Ohio State, Ole Miss, LSU, Texas A&M and Miami, among others. He also continued exploring his options, taking trips to Duke, Gainesville, Auburn and Oxford.

The Tigers have been one of the most recent schools to officially enter the picture, offering in mid-June; however, the staff and offensive line coach Matt Luke has quietly been building an extremely strong relationship with Walker over the past two seasons, visiting for games in 2024 and 2025 before returning this summer. 

He was one of the first offensive linemen to receive an offer in the class, which is telling of just how bad Luke wants the top-end talent.  

As it stands, the Tigers are the early favorites for Walker, as he himself said they were last month. Not to mention, On3’s Chad Simmons submitted an expert prediction in favor of the program last month.

Nevertheless, they’ll still need to fend him off from the prominent schools mentioned previously as the cycle continues to ramp up throughout the season.