Clemson 5-Star OL Target Sets Commitment Date

Standing at 6-foot-3, 285 pounds from Richmond, Va., Gray is ranked as the No. 1 interior offensive lineman and No. 16 overall player in the 2026 class, according to 247Sports. The same metric lists him as the top recruit from the state of Virginia.

Clemson was the first of his top five finalists to host Gray for an official visit, according to 247Sports’ recruiting timeline. He visited the Tigers on May 30 before heading to Tennessee on June 6 and Ohio State on June 11. 

The current frontrunners to land Gray are LSU and South Carolina, as they appear to be neck-and-neck in Rivals’ commitment FutureCast metric. Gray took his official visit to LSU on June 13 and South Carolina on June 20.

247Sports Director of Scouting Andrew Ivins describes Gray as an “athletic offensive lineman with a dense build that has the foot quickness to lead the way on long pulls or counters and the horsepower to hold the line of scrimmage or change it.”

Ivins also mentioned how the jump from lower private school competition in the VISAA (Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association) to the extremely physical, unrelenting nature of Power Four football may warrant Gray a developmental year or two to get adjusted to the talent differential.

Gray plays both ways for St. Christopher’s School (Va.), where he carried his team to a 2024 VISAA Division 1 Playoff berth during his junior campaign. He primarily worked at left tackle on offense while posting 50 tackles (17.5 TFL), 8 sacks, 2 forced fumbles and 2 fumble recoveries at defensive line last season, ultimately leading to an invitation to the 2025 Navy All-American Bowl.

Despite the transition to an advanced level of football, Ivins believes Gray “has what it takes to blossom into an early-round NFL Draft pick with his basketball background and full-time, two-way snaps at the prep level.” 

In addition to football, he also suits up for the Saints on the hardwood. Gray earned an All-Metro Honorable Mention after averaging 12.0 PPG and 8.0 RPG during his sophomore season, and managed to routinely score in double figures as a junior.

With South Carolina and LSU firmly in the driver’s seat of Gray’s recruitment, it will likely require a substantial turn of events for Clemson to make it interesting down the stretch, but anything can happen in this new unprecedented world of NIL and revenue-sharing.

If the Tigers were to mount a late comeback, Gray would stand as Clemson’s highest-rated pledge of its 2026 class by a considerable margin. He would also be the first top-100 player in the cycle to commit to Dabo Swinney and company, and could very well catapult Clemson’s No. 12-ranked class into the top 10 of 247Sports’ team recruiting rankings.

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