Jahiem Lawson officially staying home as he signs with Clemson Tigers

CLEMSON — Less than a week after committing to Clemson, Jahiem Lawson made his decision official on Wednesday.

Lawson signed with the Tigers and is joining Dabo Swinney’s program. It’s a program he’s very familiar with as his brother — Shaq Lawson — starred for Clemson for three seasons from 2013-15.

Jahiem Lawson earned an offer from Clemson in December and committed to the Tigers on Jan. 28.

He chose Clemson over offers from Syracuse, Georgia Tech, Coastal Carolina and others.

“Honestly, I wanted to go somewhere else. I didn’t really wanna follow in my brother’s footsteps. But I can go there and have my own destiny,” Lawson told Clemson Sports last week. “[Shaq] told me to keep my options open, keep looking. But as soon as I got that Clemson offer I feel like recruiters just stopped texting me and assumed I was going to Clemson, which is fine. I’m going to start my own destiny here.”

Jahiem Lawson is rated as the No. 1,221 prospect in the 2022 class, according to the On3 Consensus, a complete and equally weighted industry-generated average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies. He ranks as the nation’s No. 81 EDGE and the No. 16 prospect in South Carolina.

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Lawson, who played at nearby Daniel High, caught the attention of Swinney while playing alongside his son Clay at Daniel.

The pass rushing specialist finished with 25 tackles for loss and 11 sacks this past season. He was named the Defensive MVP for the North team in the North-South All-Star game in December.

While Lawson should eventually be able to help Clemson, the 6-foot-4, 215 pound prospect won’t be counted on in Year 1.

Clemson’s coaching staff has told Lawson to come in, work hard in the weight room, add weight, learn the playbook and be ready to contribute in Year 2.

“They said, ‘You need to come in and learn a lot quick. But most importantly, put a freak ton of weight on, a freak ton. And be ready to ball sophomore year,’” Lawson explained. “I’m at 215, 214 right now. But my goal at the end of school, I wanna be like 230. After the season, freshman season, probably like 250, 245.”