The Clemson Insider checked back in with this talented, class of 2023 cornerback, who continues to feel the love from Clemson.
Life Christian Academy (Colonial Heights, Va.) four-star cornerback Antonio Cotman’s energy is infectious.
You can tell by his social media presence. You can tell by the way he responds to questions.
You can almost feel Cotman’s smile over the phone when he’s asked about his relationship with Clemson cornerbacks coach Mike Reed.
“Sometimes Coach Reed, he’ll send me little scriptures, he’ll send me a bible verse or send me motivational stuff to get my day going in the morning,” Cotman told TCI. “We’ll talk throughout the day some days, not every day, but maybe two days out of the week.”
Reed has talked with Cotman about coming to see him play in a game this season, but when that happens remains to be determined.
Going back to the beginning of the month, Cotman was waiting to hear from the Tigers and almost immediately heard from Reed and quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter.
“They’ve just been sending me a lot of edits, showing love,” he said. “Me and Coach Mike Reed are still talking like usual. I just got connected to Coach Streeter. Me and Coach Streeter are starting to talk now.”
Cotman was at the Clemson-Georgia game at Bank of America Stadium in Charlotte, as a guest of the Tigers.
“It was great,” he said. “It was a great defensive battle between two teams. The DBs were strapping up the offense. The defense played a really big part.”
He’s planning on going to Clemson’s matchup against Boston College on Saturday, Oct. 2.
“I wanna see how the vibe is in Death Valley at Memorial Stadium,” Cotman said.
While he doesn’t have an offer from Clemson, Cotman gets the feeling that the Tigers are really interested in him. He believes that they just want to continue to see how he progresses as his junior season goes on.
“I really think that it’s good. It just shows that they aren’t offering kids just to offer, just because of their name,” he said. It definitely shows that they aren’t offering kids just because of their stars or their hype, they got to actually see what you can do and see if you’re Clemson material.”
Since his last conversation with TCI, Cotman has started to see his recruitment heat up. He’s picked up offers from Boston College, Purdue, West Virginia and Penn State.
“It’s been expected,” he said. “All the work I’ve done in the weight room. I’ve been anxious for it. So now, my time’s coming. I’ve been putting out all this film. I really couldn’t wait. I was really anxious. I was really starting to wonder if colleges would start pulling the trigger.”
Cotman ranks as the No. 33 cornerback and No. 4 prospect in the state of Virginia for the 2023 class, per Rivals.
Time to get the latest Clemson apparel to show your Tiger pride. Order your officially licensed Clemson gear right here!