Dabo Swinney was skeptical when Brent Venables told him a four-star defensive tackle from Hawaii was interested in Clemson.
“I’m just like, ‘Do you just want a recruiting trip to Hawaii?’” Swinney recalls. “‘We’re not getting that kid from Hawaii.’”
Scott Pagano’s family wanted to relocate to the Southeast once he chose a college, so the summer before his senior year of high school they visited Clemson. Pagano, his mother and sister had already stopped at Alabama, Florida and LSU during a grueling eight-day tour.
“We just happened to be one of the schools that they wanted to check out,” Swinney said.