One-time Clemson commit blown away by South Carolina visit, atmosphere for Vols game

Tight end Reid Mikeska (6-6 233) of Houston is no stranger to the Palmetto State.

In the spring, he made unofficial visits to Clemson and South Carolina. He liked them both after those visits, and he eventually committed to Clemson on April 13. But his recruiting took off, to the point he had nearly 50 scholarship offers, and he decommitted from Clemson a month later.

One of the schools to make a strong move on him after Clemson was Miami. He visited there unofficially in May and officially in June and committed to the Hurricanes following that official visit. He remains committed to the Canes, but he’s still looking around.

Ironically, Miami played at Clemson on Saturday while Mikeska was making another unofficial visit at USC for the Gamecocks’ upset win over Tennnessee.

“It was amazing. A big fan of South Carolina, all the coaches there and all that,” Mikeska said. “I think that was the best game I’ve ever been to in my life, to be completely honest. Everybody stormed the field. That was pretty cool.”

Mikeska watched the Gamecocks tight ends in action Saturday night. He saw how offensive coordinator Marcus Satterfield incorporated them into the game plan. He also spent a lot of time talking with tight ends coach Jody Wright, who spelled things out plainly to him.

“Basically, just come in. We need you,” Mikeska said. “They don’t have very many tight ends at all, and I’m an early enrollee. They just want me to come in and basically complete immediately. I was really impressed. South Carolina has like a ton of tight ends in the NFL. They used them a lot on Saturday, which is fun to watch. And Coach Wright is a great coach.”

That USC-Tennessee game was the only game visit of the season for Mikeska. He has taken official visits to Miami and Florida, and nothing else is scheduled at this time. Earlier in the year he also made stops at Oklahoma, Alabama, Auburn, Florida and North Carolina. As for what’s next in the process for Mikeska, that’s up in the air.

“Not sure,” he said. “I’m committed to Miami right now and just kind of going through the process. Big fan of Carolina and Coach Wright.”

At the time of his commitment, Mikeska had a top 12 of USC, Clemson, Miami, Alabama, Texas Tech, LSU, Florida, North Carolina, Michigan State, Baylor, Auburn and Tennessee.

According to MaxPreps, through nine games this season Mikeska has 21 catches for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns.