Clemson spent just three months in the mix before losing one of its early 2028 targets to the SEC.
Rabun Gap (Ga.) linebacker Jay Schell announced Tuesday morning that he is headed to Oklahoma, picking the Sooners over Clemson, according to the first report from On3’s Hayes Fawcett. The blue-chip defender is a consensus four-star prospect and checks in as the No. 97 player nationally, the No. 1 linebacker in the class and the No. 13 recruit in Georgia, per ESPN Recruiting Rankings.
The 6-foot-3, 215-pound Schell had long been on Clemson’s board, and the Tigers had a real angle with him beyond football. The Central, South Carolina native grew up close to campus, attended D.W.
Daniel High School as a freshman and has family ties to the program. Both of his parents went to the school, and his father, Matt, played quarterback at Clemson from 1998 to 2001.
That connection helped put the Tigers in early. Schell first visited Clemson last summer for the Dabo Swinney Football Camp, and from there his recruitment took off. He picked up offers from Georgia, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Oklahoma and Houston, among others, while his profile rose after a big sophomore season at Rabun Gap-Nacoochee.
That year, Schell posted 77 tackles, 14 tackles for loss, 12 QB hurries, three sacks and one forced fumble.
The visits kept piling up after that. He made fall trips to Clemson twice, Georgia twice, Kentucky, South Carolina, Texas A&M, Georgia Tech, Tennessee, Vanderbilt and NC State. By spring, he had more than 25 offers.
Schell kept broadening the picture as the year went on, adding unofficial visits to Florida, Texas, Florida State, Indiana and Nebraska, among others. He also made two more trips to Tigertown before taking his first visit to Norman, Oklahoma.
By the time summer arrived, the schools to watch were Clemson, Georgia and Oklahoma, especially after Clemson became one of the first two programs to offer him in the 2028 class following his return for the Dabo Swinney Football Camp.
Late in August, Schell narrowed things down to Clemson and Oklahoma, and Brent Venables’ program appeared to be in control. Three On3 experts, including Chad Simmons and Steve Wiltfong, logged predictions for the Sooners within five days of that announcement.
Schell said he wanted one more game-day look at both schools before deciding, lining up a trip to Clemson for the home opener against Georgia Southern and his first game-day visit to Oklahoma for its Week 3 game against New Mexico.
Michigan then jumped in after offering in March, making it clear he was a top priority. Schell described it as “a three-team race” before setting up a visit for Michigan’s season-opener against Western Michigan.
In the end, though, the momentum held. Schell chose Oklahoma, which currently has a top-three recruiting class in the country, over late pushes from Clemson and Michigan.
Clemson’s other linebacker offer in the 2028 class is five-star Tahj Gray, who is trending toward Ohio State.
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