CALHOUN, Ga. — With two seasons of prep football still ahead of him, Trace Hawkins had narrowed his college choices down to a final pair this summer.
Either pick would have had the Calhoun High School quarterback suiting up for the Tigers and playing in Death Valley.
As it turns out, Hawkins’ future will also include running down the hill after rubbing Howard’s Rock at Memorial Stadium.
The four-star prospect flashed a bright smile Thursday night at the Yellow Jackets’ field house after ditching an LSU hat in favor of a Clemson cap, becoming the first commitment of the 2028 recruiting cycle for coach Dabo Swinney’s Tigers.
“I have loved Clemson my whole life and the tradition they have built there,” Hawkins said of the Tigers, who reestablished themselves as an Atlantic Coast Conference power under Swinney’s direction and have won two of their three national championships in his tenure, adding the 2016 and 2018 season titles to the 1981 crown.