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Posted by Block-C Staff
Nothing to see here people, move along. All along Jadeveon Clowney’s been a Gamecock lock. Clemson made a good push at the end, but if you didn’t think he was a Cock when he said he had his mind made up last week, and if you didn’t think he was a Cock when he decided not to visit Clemson this weekend, then this morning’s announcement should finally convince you. TI and a number of Clemson outlets are not even sending reporters to Rock Hill to cover the 10:30 AM announcement.
So, the fact that his decision is the worst kept secret in CFB should temper some of the typically absurd ESPN hype, right? No. They are playing this up as much as possible and failing to mention the fact that his decision is a foregone conclusion. So is just about every other media outlet out there. All of this is to the great benefit of Sakerlina, as it’s going to look like they beat out Clemson and Alabama for the Clowney sweepstakes, they get to have a parade down some street in Columbia, run from messageboard to messageboard talking shit, and hang another preseason national champs banner from Williams-Brice. Enjoy.
***EDIT*** – Surprise, surprise, he chose Carolina over Clemson and Alabama. Now we get to hear from the tigernetters about how we almost had him even though he was a Cock solid (no homo) since just about the spring after his junior season. We also get to hear the Gamecock homers talk about how they snatched one right out from “OL DUMBO SWANNEY HAR HAR HAR HAR, HEAR DAT BOY?” Regardless, I’m sure this young man will get a fine education down in Columbia. Great, GREAT, solid degrees for atholetes down there. – WM
Posted by Chili
Scout is reporting that Clemson will have Jadeveon Clowney on campus next weekend when Clemson plays UNC at Littlejohn February 12. Coaches are not allowed any more in-homes with Clowney so he has to come to them. Clowney will make his announcement on February 14, where I’m assuming a pillar of white smoke and a dule of doves will be released celebrating his decision.
It was also reported that Clowney was wearing Clemson gear around his school this week. After the jump, we have an exclusive photo of Jadeveon in his Clemson gear.
Posted by Chili
All the faxes are in (except one, I’ll get to that later) and Clemson racked up an unbelievable day of commitments that filled a lot of pressing needs for the Tigers. When all was said and done the Tigers racked up four 5-star recruits (according to Rivals) and came away with a class ranked 8th by Rivals, 8th by ESPN, and 11th by Scout.
“Uh, this kid is in high school?”
The highlight of the class has got to be the signing day decisions of 5-star linebackers Tony Steward (above) out of St. Augustine, Florida and Stephone Anthony out of Wadesboro, NC. Ranked by some as the top two linebackers in the nation, the duo will make an immediate impact in a spot that looked to be a weak point coming into 2011. Add to that Lateek Townsend out of Bennettsville, SC, who is ranked as the 10th best LB in the nation. Another position where the coaches significantly upgraded their talent was in WR. Clemson signed the #3 prep recruit in the nation in WR Martavis Bryant, and the number 2 and number 4 ranked WRs in the nation in Charone Peake and Sammy Watkins. The improved receiving should do well to compliment one of the nation’s top RB recruits, 5-star Mike Bellamy. Clemson added a late OL commitment from Spencer Region out of Alabama who should help add depth to the Clemson corps.
The numbers here are pretty impressive:
- Clemson signed four USA Today All-Americans (1st-Anthony, Steward, 2nd-Bellamy, Peake)
- The Tigers got three Parade All-Americans (1st-Anthony, Bellamy, 2nd-Townsend)
- Only four 5-star players have left Florida to play out-of-state since 2002: CJ Spiller in 2006 and Mike Bellamy, Tony Steward, and Sammy Watkins in this class
- Clemson hauled in a total of four 5-star players this year in Stephone Anthony, Mike Bellamy, Tony Steward, and Sammy Watkins. LSU brought in three and six other teams brought in two.
- Four players played in the US Army All-American game (Peake, Steward, Townsend, Watkins)
- Three played in the Under Armour All-American game (Anthony, Bellamy, Region)
- 7 players were on the 2011 ESPN.com top 150 list
SCOTT OUT, CALDWELL IN
Often times schools will announce staff changes immediately after signing day. Reasoning for this is pretty obvious as the schools don’t want any potential signees scared away by an appearance of staff instability. Clemson officially makes a change today when it swaps one former SEC head coach for another. It had long been a known fact that former Vanderbilt HC and well-respected OL coach Robbie Caldwell would be taking over the line while Brad Scott would step back and take an administrative role, but today it was finally and formally acknowledged by the University.
THE CHEESE STANDS ALONE
In an interesting note, Jadeveon Clowney, a DE from Rock Hill and the nation’s #1 overall recruit by most services is not announcing until his birthday, February 14. Now, I’ve been with a lot of other people all along in saying he’s going to be a Gamecock, and for a while it looked like Clemson wouldn’t even get a sniff at him. However, he took an official visit last weekend after being persuaded to do so by Dabo and said he had a great time and was now considering Clemson alongside the Gamecocks and Alabama. Lateek Townsend said to a Myrtle Beach TV station that he was trying to get Clowney to go to Clemson and that he thought Clowney would ultimately be a Tiger. Clowney has remarked positively about Clemson’s signees, saying he’d like to play with them. Dabo Swinney answered a question about room for late signees this evening by saying that they have room for one special player, an obvious nod at Clowney.
Is Clowney going to be a Clemson Tiger? No. I don’t think so.
Everything I’ve read about this guy leads me to believe that he has never had any intention on changing his allegiances; I’ve even heard that he’s a silent commit to the Gamecocks. If he’s mentioning Clemson as a real possibility late then I have to assume it is just a harmless ploy to create a little more drama around what is really a foregone conclusion. I don’t doubt he had a good time and maybe even gained a bit more affinity towards Clemson during his visit, but I don’t think it was a game-changer.
Posted by Block-C Staff
As of 7:45 AM, Clemson has received LOIs from the top RB, Mike Bellamy, and top WR, Sammy Watkins, out of the state of Florida. Also signing this morning are DL Corey Crawford and Joe Gore, OLs Ryan Norton and Shaq Anthony, QBs Tony McNeal and Cole Stoudt, ATH Colton Walls, K Ammon Lakip, and DB Cortez Davis.
More in a little while. In the meantime, recruits announcing today who could sign with Clemson:
LB Tony Steward – 10:00 AM Signed with Clemson
OL Spencer Region – 10:30 AM Signed with Clemson
DB Brandon Ellerbe – 11:00 AM Signed with UNC
DL Roderick Byers – 11:30 AM Signed with Clemson
LB Stephone Anthony – 11:30 AM Signed with Clemson
—UPDATE—
Be sure to keep an eye on the CUAD 2011 Signing Day Central website for immediate updates.
Also, the one day of the year that I actually listen to WCCP other than for a game is today. You can listen too here.
Posted by Sam
4-Star Defensive Tackle Phillip Dukes made his announcement today is headed to Sakerlina (for some reason).
Also, 3-Star Defensive End Roderick Byers is currently committed to Oregon, but would sign with Clemson if he was given an offer. Apparently it is Dabo’s call at this point, whether or not to hand Byers that offer.
Posted by Sam
On Wednesday, a bunch of 40 year old men will be hanging their hopes and dreams on the decisions of 17 and 18 year old high school kids. That’s right, National Signing Day is here and there is nothing more exciting, yet so depressing like NSD. So, let’s give you guys a quick update on what is happening with Clemson’s current recruiting class.
Currently, Clemson has 24 commitments from potential recruits. Four of those recruits have already enrolled at Clemson (which is the same as having already signed a letter of intent), including both of the quarterbacks recruited in this class. The coaching staff is still waiting on a couple of decisions from a couple of the country’s biggest recruits. Here is who they are waiting on and a little information about those recruits:
- Spencer Region (3-Star OL, Cullman, AL. 6’6, 330) – Region is apparently down to Clemson and Auburn and Rivals.com has even stated that they think he will ultimately choose Clemson over the Tigers (wait…what?). He took his official visit to Clemson this past weekend and will make his announcement on Wednesday.
- Phillip Dukes (4-Star DT, Manning, SC. 6’3, 295) – Most recruiting services are saying that Dukes is going to decide between Clemson and Sakerlina, but some are saying that Alabama is still in the hunt. He made his official visit to Clemson on Jan. 14th.
- Tony Steward (5-Star LB, St. Augustine, FL. 6’2, 225) – Steward has said that his decision is coming down to Clemson and Florida State and he is roughly 50/50 on where he is going. He will make his announcement on Wednesday, Feb. 2nd. He made his officially visit to Clemson on Jan. 14th.
- Stephone Anthony (5-Star LB, Wadesboro, NC. 6’3, 220) – Virginia Tech and maybe Florida are Clemson’s only competition for the services of Anthony. He plans to make his announcement Wednesday. He also made his official visit to Clemson on Jan. 14th.
- Jadeveon Clowney (5-Star DE, Rock Hill, SC. 6’6, 247) – Clowney is considered the Number 1 recruit in all of America by a couple of recruiting websites and has been compared to Jevon “The Freak” Kearse. Clemson has virtually no shot at landing him, and most “experts” assume he is going to Sakerlina or Alabama with the Gamecocks leading because Clowney has a couple of friends who already play there (and not b/c he thinks that they have an outstanding program with rich history and tradition). He had his official visit to Clemson this past weekend and will not make his announcement until his birthday on Feb. 14th. Some people have said that Clowney has been a silent commit to the Gamecocks for a while now.
The coaching staff believes that they are still in the running for a couple of other recruits as well, but all of those kids are currently committed to other schools at the moment. They include:
- Jerell Adams (3-Star TE, Summerton, SC. 6’5, 220) – Adams committed to Sakerlina on Monday, but there is a good chance he will not qualify in time to be with the team in the fall.
- Roderick Byers (3-Star DE, Rock Hill, SC. 6’4, 262) – Committed to Oregon.
- Brandon Ellerbe (3-Star S, Wadesboro, NC. 6’1, 200) – Committed to North Carolina.
So, don’t forget to call in sick to work on Wednesday and then listen for recruiting updates and the decisions of kids who may or may not be able to buy cigarettes…….or even vote.
Clemson’s Recruiting Class Rankings (5-Star recruits, 4-Star, 3-Star)
Commitment List (star ratings from Rivals.com)
- Shaq Anthony (3-Star OL) Piedmont, SC – 6’4, 260
- Isaiah Battle (3-Star OL) St. George, VA – 6’7, 260
- Mike Bellamy (5-Star RB) Punta Gorda, FL – 5’10, 185
- Martavis Bryant (4-Star WR) Chatham, VA – 6’4, 195
- Corey Crawford* (4-Star DE) Chatham, VA – 6’5, 275
- Cortez Davis (4-Star DB) Daytona Beach, FL – 6’3, 200
- Kevin Dodd (3-Star DT) Greer, SC – 6’5, 277
- BJ Goodson (3-Star LB) Lamar, SC – 6’1, 225
- Joe Gore* (3-Star DE) Lake Waccamaw, NC – 6’6, 262
- Adam Humphries (2-Star DB) Roebuck, SC – 5’11, 176
- Grady Jarett (3-Star DT) Conyers, GA – 6’0, 282
- Ammon Lakip (2-Star K) Alpharetta, GA – 5’11, 175
- Eric MacLain (4-Star TE) Fayetteville, NC – 6’5, 245
- Jerome Maybank (2-Star DT) Pawley’s Island, SC – 6’4, 335
- Tony McNeal* (3-Star QB) Chester, SC – 6’1, 190
- Ryan Norton (3-Star OL) Mauldin, SC – 6’3, 274
- Charone Peake (4-Star WR) Roebuck, SC – 6’3, 200
- Stanton Seckinger (3-Star WR) Charleston, SC – 6’5, 200
- Robert Smith (3-Star ATH) Dorchester, SC – 5’10, 200
- Cole Stroudt* (3-Star QB) Dublin, OH – 6’4, 200
- Lateek Townsend (4-Star LB) Bennettsville, SC – 6’2, 197
- Colton Walls (2-Star LB) Charlotte, NC – 6’1, 215
- Sammy Watkins (5-Star WR) Fort Myers, FL – 6’1, 180
- DeShaun Williams (3-Star DT) Central, SC – 6’1, 302
*already enrolled
