Newest Clemson arrival is ready for Georgia

Darien Mayo looks to make an impact after his summer enrollment.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed May 15 07:00:03 GMT-04:00 2024

One new Clemson player is already ready to face Georgia.

The final seven members of the 2024 recruiting class will arrive on campus this summer. The First Summer session begins May 14th and runs through June 21st. The Second Summer session begins on June 27th. All of the players are expected to be on campus at that point.

Who are the final seven pieces of the puzzle? They are, Drew Woodaz, CJ Kubah-Taylor, TJ Moore, Hevin Brown-Shuler, Darien Mayo, Ashton Hampton, and Christian Bentancur.

Today, we take a look at Mayo, who arrived on campus Monday.

Mayo was a 4-star player who ranked among the top 150 players in the nation according to several outlets and was named by Rivals as the No. 105 overall player in the nation, as well as the fourth-best player in Maryland and the nation’s 10th-best defensive end. He was credited as the nation’s No. 144 overall player by 247Sports, which ranked him 25th among defensive linemen nationally and fifth among all players in Maryland.

Mayo was a first-team All-WCAC selection in 2023, a second-team All-Met honoree from the Washington Post, and helped Good Counsel to a 10-1 record, a WCAC title, and a No. 1 final ranking in the Washington Post Top 20 in 2023.

Mayo was credited with 78 total tackles (54 solo), 25 tackles for loss, 13 sacks and two pass breakups as a senior, earning second-team All-America status from MaxPreps.

Mayo stands in at 6-7 – one of the taller players in Clemson football history, and head coach Dabo Swinney called Mayo a giant before delving further into detail.

“He's up there at Good Counsel at a school we have a lot of respect for. They do a tremendous job there,” Swinney said. “Obviously Dorian O'Daniel came out of there (as did teammate CJ Kubah-Taylor), but man, Darien is a high-level player. He's a guy that's got I think a bright future. Had a great year this year.”

It was announced yesterday that the season opener against Georgia will kick off at noon in Mercedes-Benz Stadium on the last day of August. Mayo told TigerNet last year that he was ready for the Bulldogs.

“This already is a great recruiting class, and it has a chance to be special,” Mayo told TigerNet last June. “Our goal is the first game against Georgia because that is when we are going to be there. Let’s go compete. I am so ready for that. I am looking forward to it. They are the defending national champions, and they run a championship program. I can’t wait for that, to see what we can do.”

Mayo said that while some may think Clemson is slipping, this class will ensure that the Tigers stay on top.

“That is a big thing for us,” Mayo said. “This is a great program with a lot of rich history. We want to do our due diligence and keep it that way. Keep this program alive. There are a lot of great players that came before us, like Hunter Renfrow and Deshaun Watson. That’s our job is to keep it going.”