2023 In-State WR Clay Pender Says 'Everything' Stands Out About Clemson
Clay Pender had long been looking forward to getting back to Clemson.
The 2023 in-state receiver out of Barnwell, has long been familiar with the program and has been on campus in the past. However, never as a high school recruit. That changed at Clemson's annual spring game when the speedy wideout took an unofficial visit.
"It went really good," Pender told All Clemson. "Me and coach (Tyler) Grisham and Jaden Greathouse, from Westlake, went on a little private tour. It felt really personable."
Despite some unusually cold weather, Pender was overly impressed with the atmosphere, as well as the hands-on approach the coaching staff takes with potential prospects.
"It was really nice and the atmosphere was really nice too," Pender said. "It's always nice being there. It was cold, weirdly cold. It was 40 degrees so that was a little weird, but besides that, the coaches were personable and likable. Really made it feel like home. Honestly, it was really nice to be there."
When asked what really stood out about the visit, Pender had a hard time nailing down just one thing. Everything the program has to offer stands out.
"There was like this kind of like nutrition part of the weight room that I really liked," Pender said. "It really stood out because it was just something cool that I haven't seen anywhere else. And they just had a lot of facilities like health training and all that. They're adding a lot of things. I just really liked all they had. It really stood out."
Pender, a two-sport athlete who also plays baseball, has been hearing from the Clemson coaching staff since working out at Dabo Swinney's high school camp last summer. While he does not hold any Power-5 offers to date, he plans to once again camp at Clemson this summer, with the hopes of ultimately landing that coveted offer from the Tigers.
"I mean, it would mean a lot, even more coming from an in-state school, a higher ranked school especially," Pender said. "Because usually a lot of schools are kinda like validation seeking. You gotta be like 4-stars, 5-stars to offer them. They're looking for kids that have all these offers. But I don't have all these offers, I go to a little, smaller school. So just them seeing the potential and giving me that chance, it would mean a lot more."
Pender has no timeline as far as making any decision about his future, but has a good idea of what it is he is looking for in a school. He feels he will know when the time is right and until then, the plan is to go as hard as he can every time he steps foot on the field.
"Whoever feels like family, because I really want to be comfortable there," Pender said. "I don't want to be worrying about stuff and having to second guess myself. Wanna be comfortable being able to go to practice, go to school, just continue my faith and all that stuff."
"I'm just gonna ball out and see what comes next."