4-star IOL Elyjah Thurmon locks in his first official visit

Hinesville (Ga.) Bradwell Institute four-star interior offensive lineman Elyjah Thurmon trimmed down his list of top schools eight back in August. The 6-foot-3, 265-pounder has Clemson, Duke, Florida, Georgia Tech, LSU, Missouri, South Carolina and UCF still on his list.

He is now starting to lock in official visits and after returning to Clemson for the Florida State game just over a week ago, he has locked one in with the Tigers for the weekend of Nov. 10. It is expected to be his first official visit and he has an idea of what he is looking for.

“I want to see how the coaches interact with the players, most importantly the offensive linemen, and how they interact with each other,” Thurmon told On3. “I want to see what it is like being around the team and being in that atmosphere. Then I want to also learn a bit from the offensive line themselves on what they do, like calls and how they block scheme.

“Official visits will be huge because they will help me figure out where home is for me and where I will develop my game the best.”

Thurmon camped at Clemson twice and attended a game in Death Valley this fall, so he knows about the ACC program. The head coach has made a strong impression on him.

“I like how Coach Dabo Swinney takes in high school guys and builds them rather than getting players from the Transfer Portal. I like his resume of the number of guys he gets to the league, the amount of titles, the wins and not just him but the entire coaching staff. And at Clemson, I love how even after ball players come back and are still treated like family and even before enrolling on campus.”

Relationships, OVs will play big part in Thurmon’s decision

While Thurmon doesn’t have any current frontrunners, he’s being pursued the hardest by Clemson, Georgia Tech, LSU and South Carolina. Thurmon says he’s in close contact with the four programs and their respective offensive line coaches.

“That’s very big to me, because it just means you want to be able to build with me, especially before I get on campus and be a part of the team. So that’s real important to me,” said Thurmon, the No. 33 IOL in the 2024 cycle.

Thurmon is yet to decide which schools will be top priorities for his official visits in the fall, but those trips, along with his relationships with the coaching staff and school, will be crucial in his final decision.

“It’ll help me be able to be around the coaching staff and then the players and the team itself, to be able to see if that’ll be a place I want to be. And then especially for my mom, if that’s a place where she feels safe for me going to.”

“It’ll be the education, most importantly,” he added of his decision. “That’s the first thing…then the family aspect, then the culture of the team.”

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