Gamecocks’ Muschamp leading charge with top DE, but Clemson looms

Defensive end K.J. Henry of Clemmons, N.C., has Clemson and USC in his final 10 and he visited both recently, the Tigers for a spring practice and the Gamecocks for their spring game. Both continue to push for Henry and figure to be in the fight for him until the end.

“He enjoyed both of them, they are good people,” said Henry’s coach Adrian Snow. “I think now he’s starting to look at numbers and who is doing what and where. Let’s be honest with you, right now Clemson is the cat’s meow, the top dog, so you got to do what you got to do. You also have got to look at all the factors and variables and I think he’s doing a good job of that. He’s done a good job of educating himself. He likes Coach Swinney. The new D-line coach, he’s still trying to get up with him. He dealt with those other two more. It’s not bad, it’s just new.”

USC’s Will Muschamp is leading the charge in an effort to entice Henry to Columbia. Having already missed on Xavier Thomas, Muschamp could restore some major momentum to his recruiting by landing Henry.

“He likes Coach Muschamp,” Snow said. “I think for him, they’ve got to keep it rolling and keep going in the right direction.”

Henry visited Charlotte earlier this week. His father is an assistant coach there. Snow said he will also visit Virginia Tech sometime soon. And he said he will take all five of his official visits before making his decision.

The other schools on Henry’s short list are Penn State, Georgia, Ohio State, Pittsburgh, Alabama, Louisville, Virginia Tech and Charlotte. Coaches from all of those schools will descend on Clemmons when spring practice begins next month.

This story was originally published April 14, 2017 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Gamecocks’ Muschamp leading charge with top DE, but Clemson looms."