The Clemson Insider has decided to take a relatively old concept and put a new spin on it. As we already introduced on our message board, TCI will field weekly recruiting mailbag questions, which will be answered in an article format. We’ll choose questions to answer and provide you with the most relevant information regarding Clemson recruiting.
Without further ado, we took a crack at answering some of your mailbag questions. It should be noted that the questions have been edited for clarity.
Q: Is there any way to list our current prospects and the timeline of their decision — if they have one?
Absolutely!
Right now, the only current prospect of note that has set a commitment date is Stockbridge (Ga.) three-star defensive back Shelton Lewis, who will be making his college decision on Monday, Aug. 8 at around 9:30 a.m. We’ll have more details on Lewis in an answer to another question that was posed, but we are expecting it to be a sunny day in Clemson.
As for someone like Buckingham Browne & Nichols School (Cambridge, Mass.) four-star wide receiver Ronan Hanafin, the general expectation was that the Massachusetts native was going to be committed before the start of his senior season. However, there hasn’t been a whole lot of chatter coming out of his camp. Hanafin very well could choose between Clemson, Notre Dame, Alabama and Boston College before his senior campaign rolls around, but each passing day makes that more and more unlikely.
Another uncommitted prospect that Clemson is heavily in the mix for is Kayden McDonald. The four-star defensive tackle out of North Gwinnett (Suwanee, Ga.) is said to be eying a commitment date sometime in the month of October. That would allow him to make an official visit to Clemson for a gameday at Memorial Stadium this fall.
When we wrote about McDonald in this week’s edition of The Insider Report, we reported that he didn’t receive permission from his coach to attend the All-In Cookout because it conflicted with his schedule. The cookout was also on a Monday. Clemson should be able to get him on campus again and there should be a resolution in that regard, sooner than later.
Lastly, I wanted to touch on Christopher Johnson. It seems that Clemson may be out of the running for the three-star running back out of Fort Lauderdale’s (Fla.) Dillard High School. While Johnson hasn’t outwardly removed Clemson from contention, he recently told the Miami Herald that he’s focusing on two schools — Miami and Ole Miss. While Johnson previously told us that an official visit to Clemson sometime this fall would be in the cards, that still remains to be seen. In any event, he’s said to be close to making a decision.
Q: I thought someone shared a comment or link to an article where a UGA site predicted a heavily recruited player was going to pick Clemson on Monday. I can’t remember if he was an offensive lineman or defensive lineman but I recall he was a pretty big player. Was that a figment of my imagination?
I think you may be referring to Kayden McDonald, who received a crystal ball to Clemson from 247Sports back on July 31. As for a player who is set to announce this coming Monday, that’s Shelton Lewis, who also hails from the Peach State.
Clemson is looking to land both of their commitments, but as I noted above, McDonald likely won’t be making any college decisions until October.
Q: It might have already been covered but with us supposedly offering current OSU commit Mathews, would we still take both him and Lewis?
In a perfect world, Clemson would probably love to take both Shelton Lewis and Jermaine Matthews, Jr.
The more talent you can accumulate on your roster the better, right?
However, after speaking with a couple of sources, Clemson did not extend an offer to the Ohio State commit. After messaging with Matthews, he told us that he spoke with cornerbacks coach Mike Reed, but that appears to be the extent of what took place.
So, in that event, I would say it’s very unlikely that Clemson would take both Lewis and Matthews. That’s from a numbers standpoint and the fact that Clemson would be rather unlikely to offer a prospect that’s already pledged their commitment elsewhere. At the same time, the Tigers feel pretty good about their chances of landing Lewis and TCI has already called for this coming Monday to be a sunny day in Tiger Town.
Q: Will Clemson pull back IN a 4-star RB?
I’m sure this question relates to the 2023 recruiting class and it’ll be interesting to see what happens next. Jeremiah Cobb committed to Auburn, while Christopher Johnson is poised to commit elsewhere. Clemson did express interest in Klein Forest (Houston, Texas) four-star Parker Jenkins, but that ship has sailed, as he committed to the University of Houston on Saturday.
The same could be said for Dylan Edwards. And while Clemson’s class of 2023 commits were driving the Tigers’ interest in the Kansas Gatorade Player of the Year, Edwards elected to commit to Notre Dame Saturday after walking back his Kansas State pledge the weekend prior.
Clemson is in a tough spot here, but remember CJ Spiller and staff were able to identify Parish Episcopal School (Dallas, Texas) three-star running back, Andrew Paul, as a prospect worth targeting. At one point, Paul seemed like he was heading to Clemson, but Georgia was able to swoop in late and earn his commitment.
While Clemson certainly needs to start closing at the running back position, there shouldn’t be any doubts about the Tigers’ ability to evaluate prospects that blossom during their senior season.
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