Clemson high on Wichita defensive end’s list

Defensive end Xavier Kelly of Wichita, Kan. visited 15 schools over the spring and early part of the summer, and his stop at Clemson University made a big impression.

So much so, he's going to try to make it back for the All-In barbeque July 17. And if he's not able to attend that, he definitely will be back on an official visit in the fall. Besides Clemson, Kelly said he wants to get to Alabama in the fall for the LSU game. That's the only other official visit he's certain of at this point.

Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables is heading up the Tigers' recruiting efforts of Kelly and the two are staying in regular contact.

"He said I can be a factor on their defense and would be playing like an outside linebacker and defensive end," Kelly said. "I learned a lot on my visit. They have a very stable coaching staff and they've never offered a JUCO player so I would never have to worry about a JUCO player coming in and replacing me. And they are in the ACC, one of the higher conferences. And they develop a lot of defensive linemen too."

Kelly can't identify an absolute favorite visit because each one had something that stood out. His other visits were to Michigan, Michigan State, Notre Dame, Florida, Florida State, Miami, Georgia, Alabama, TCU, Kansas State, Oklahoma, Oklahoma State, Missouri and Nebraska.

From those visits and other factors Kelly has a top list of Clemson, Alabama, Florida State, Michigan, Georgia, Kansas State, Oregon and TCU. He wants to take all five official visits this fall and he said it's hard to identify a school recruiting him the hardest because they all are working him pretty hard.

Kelly will not make an announcement on a school until January 9th at the Army All American Game.