Tristan Smith walked into Clemson's team meeting room on Monday and took inventory of everything going on around him.
Music was playing, players were clapping along to the beat and coach Dabo Swinney's energy was infectious as the Tigers prepared for their matchup with Texas on Saturday in the College Football Playoff.
A few minutes in, it hit Smith.
"I have to come here," he recalled thinking. "I want to be a part of this so bad."
Smith, a 6-foot-5, 205-pound wide receiver transfer from Southeastern Missouri State, is now making that happen.
In a move that had the college football world buzzing Monday night, the Georgia native announced his commitment to Clemson for the 2025 season, just hours after he shook Swinney's hand and gave the Tigers head coach a hug in his office.
With his commitment, Smith made a bit of history -- becoming Clemson's most notable transfer of the Swinney era, three-plus years after the transfer-averse coach joked that the day the Tigers dipped into the portal would be "one of the greatest days" in program history.
Smith isn't Swinney's first transfer -- the Tigers signed quarterbacks Hunter Johnson in 2022 (for his second stint at Clemson) and Paul Tyson in 2023 -- but he is the first who is expected to play a significant role.
"I never really let that get to me about the hype and all the history and stuff," Smith said. "I'm just a football player like anybody else, any other football player just looking for somewhere where I can come in and play and show my ability at the highest level of the game.
"I'll make history breaking some records at Clemson."
Smith enrolled at SEMO for the 2024 season after spending two years at Hutchinson (Kan.) Community College. Looking back, he thinks things might have shaken out differently had he taken his schoolwork more seriously in his first few years of high school. But he struggled during his ninth and 10th grade years and started to buckle down academically only after LaGrange (Ga.) High School hired Matt Napier, the younger brother of Florida's Billy Napier, to run the football program.
"I didn't know how good I was going to be," Smith said. "I didn't know how far I was going to make it in this football world. I feel like if coach Napier would have come in in my ninth grade year, I would have gone Division I out of high school."
At Hutchinson, Smith got back on track. Although he had just two catches for 91 yards and one touchdown as a freshman and 14 catches for 140 yards and one score as a sophomore, he changed his classroom habits and vowed to never fail a course in college.
He thrived at SEMO this season, where he finished the semester with a 3.3 GPA and starred on the football field, catching 76 passes for 934 yards and six touchdowns.
"It's my story," Smith said. "And I'm writing my own story."
Smith entered the transfer portal on Dec. 9 and quickly picked up offers from UTEP, Nevada, New Mexico State, Louisiana Tech, Eastern Michigan, Florida Atlantic and Arkansas State.
Clemson wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham reached out four days later and set up an official visit for Smith on Monday. He arrived at Clemson at 2 a.m., fresh off an official visit to New Mexico State, having flown from New Mexico to Dallas to Atlanta before he drove the final two hours to Clemson.
While on campus, he attended the team meeting, ate lunch with players and watched Clemson's practice, where he couldn't help but notice how "happy" Swinney looked.
"I told (Swinney) my story, what I came from and what all I did to get where I am today," Smith said. "Not too many people from where I'm from make it this far."
With Smith's commitment, the Tigers are adding a red zone threat who also prides himself on his yards-after-catch numbers.
He's also relentless with his effort, as shown in a clip of him chasing down a defender and knocking the ball out of his hands at the goal line, just after his teammate fumbled.
Now he's ready for one final ride at Clemson, where he's looking forward to potentially catching passes from quarterback Cade Klubnik.
"I know there's going to be a lot of people doubting me, a lot of negativity, but there's also going to be some positivity," Smith said. "I just want the fans and everybody to know, the whole Clemson family, that I'm a hard worker. I come in, I've got a chip on my shoulder. I've got something to prove. They're getting a guy in me."