Dabo Swinney’s staff is rather unlikely to offer a prospect that’s already pledged their commitment elsewhere. That’s why Swinney and Co. waited until after Phenix City (Alabama) Central High’s Tomarrion Parker walked back his pledge from Penn State to make him an official offer.
Parker — a 6-foot-4, 250-pound rising senior — reported the offer from the Tigers via social media this past Thursday, Aug. 11. He currently ranks as the nation’s No. 4 defensive lineman and the No. 49 overall prospect in the 2023 class, per 247Sports.
“I always wanted to say that Clemson offered,” Parker told The Clemson Insider in a phone interview Saturday evening. “We’ve been talking for a little while and once I decommitted, some of the commits, some of my friends that I know — Peter Woods and (Christopher) Vizzina — they hit me up and they was like, ‘Bro, would you be interested in Clemson?’
“Are you kidding me? Of course!”
Once Parker expressed interest in Clemson, Lemanski Hall and Nick Eason became more involved in his recruitment. Shortly thereafter, the Tigers pulled the trigger on a scholarship offer.
“I was very excited about that,” Parker added.
What has Clemson’s defensive ends coach’s message been to Parker, since the Tigers have re-entered the picture?
“He’s losing four guys (Xavier Thomas, KJ Henry, Myles Murphy and Justin Mascoll) this year to the NFL, so he needs players who are ready to come in and play early, play right away,” Parker said, “and he feels like I’m a guy that can do that. He’s gonna recruit me hard and I really like that and respect that — saying that the defensive room is open next year. That’s a great opportunity to go into.”
Parker will certainly be keeping an eye on the production of the defensive ends mentioned above and how they develop as the season goes.
“I definitely rock with Coach Hall and Coach Eason,” Parker continued. “We’ve been talking for well over a year now. We’ve gotten to know each other real well. He knows my family real well and we talk all the time. We’ve been talking every day since I decommitted and before that, whenever we was talking, we was talking constantly. I really like Coach Hall. He’s a great coach. I feel like if I was to go to Clemson, he could get me to where I want to be in life.”
In addition to Hall, both Woods and Vizzina are coming after Parker and coming after him hard. The duo of Yellowhammer State five-stars is looking to add another Alabama native to Clemson’s 2023 recruiting class, especially after Hunter Osborne elected to commit to the University of Alabama over Swinney’s program earlier this month.
“Me and Peter talked about this a long time ago,” Parker said. “We talked about this last year. Since some things have started happening, I could definitely make that happen. But right now, I’m just taking my time with everything. Me and Peter talked about this a long time ago.”
Parker made it clear that his original commitment to Penn State wasn’t tied to him wanting to be committed prior to his senior season. Now that he’s back to reevaluating his options, it’s worth noting that Parker has four remaining official visits.
He “definitely will” use one of those four remaining official visits to Clemson. Parker has a bye the weekend of Oct. 22, which just happens to be when Clemson plays host to Syracuse at Memorial Stadium.
“I’m gonna try to see if my dad can take off that weekend, so we can get down there,” he said.
Parker said that the University of Tennessee, Georgia and Florida will be getting those other three remaining official visits.
Come out to support Clemson softball at Dear Old Clemson’s second event which is set for August 27 at the Madren Conference Center. Clemson returns as one of the top teams in the nation and adds some new talent to the mix. If you sign up for certain club levels you get free access to all Dear Old Clemson events or purchase your tickets today at Dear Old Clemson.
