Clemson picked up a big-time commitment Sunday from a highly touted Peach State safety.
Milton High School (Alpharetta, Ga.) four-star Rob Billings announced his commitment to Dabo Swinney’s program on Sunday over schools like Duke, Florida State, Kentucky, Ole Miss and Michigan.
Billings — a 6-foot-2, 190-pound rising senior — is ranked as high as the nation’s No. 23 safety and the No. 26 overall prospect in the state of Georgia for the 2023 class by Rivals.
Sunday, July 30, isn’t a date of significance for Billings. Rather, he felt like now was the time for him to ultimately make his college decision. He wanted to be committed prior to his senior season and with Milton having a scrimmage coming up next week, he just felt like now was the right time.
Prior to Sunday’s announcement, Billings detailed his decision in an exclusive phone interview with The Clemson Insider on Sunday afternoon.
“Really my relationship with Coach (Mickey) Conn and ever since they offered me a scholarship, the communication hasn’t fallen off,” Billings said. “They’ve just showed their interest in me every day…They just really haven’t fallen off in their recruitment of me. They showed a lot of interest in what they want me to do with their program when I get there and how they see me fitting in.”
It wasn’t last Monday’s All In Cookout that sealed the deal for Billings, although it gave him confirmation that he was making the right decision. The Peach State product was actually silently committed almost three weeks prior to Sunday’s announcement.
“The cookout helped me gauge that I made the right decision,” he said. “I got to spend a lot of time with some of the commits and some of the coaches on the staff. I really felt at home when I went up there for the cookout.”
According to Billings, when he informed Conn of his decision, Clemson’s co-defensive coordinator/safeties coach told him that he made his day. Conn couldn’t wait for him to announce him, so the rest of the college football world could find out about Clemson’s latest addition to its secondary.
With that being said, what’s the expectation for Billings once he does arrive on campus?
“Coach Conn has been preaching to me that he wants me to play free safety and then learn the free safety spot,” Billings said. “Eventually, he wants me to learn strong safety, so I could be able to play both and get some time on the field. He said that he’s not afraid to start a freshman. So, I’m just gonna go in there and work as hard as I can.”
This story will be updated.
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