The Insider Report: Clemson working their magic again this summer

Each week The Clemson Insider brings you the latest Inside information on the Clemson Tigers in The Insider Report. What is the latest on Five-star linebacker Drayk Bowen? Which five-star told TCI he would love to come back to Clemson? Could the …

Each week The Clemson Insider brings you the latest Inside information on the Clemson Tigers in The Insider Report.

What is the latest on Five-star linebacker Drayk Bowen?  Which five-star told TCI he would love to come back to Clemson?  Could the staff look at signing a second quarterback in 2022 with Chandler heading to play professional baseball?  All of this and more in this week’s edition of The Insider Report.

If you are not already a Clemson Insider register today for Free and enjoy all of the Insider information on TheClemsonInsider.com.

Photo courtesy USA Today Sports.

Clemson Variety & Frame is doing their part to help bring you some classic new barware and help one of the local businesses that helps make Clemson special.

Order your Nick’s barware and do your part to help.  #SaveNicks

Five-star CB A.J. Harris names top schools

Georgia and Notre Dame are among the top schools for five-star class of 2023 cornerback Aaron-Joshua “A.J.” Harris

The Georgia Bulldogs are among the top schools for five-star class of 2023 cornerback Aaron-Joshua (A.J.) Harris. Georgia offered a scholarship to the talented and lengthy cornerback in Feb. 2021.

The 6-foot-2, 180-pound cornerback is ranked the No. 23 recruit in his class. Harris is the No. 2 corner and No. 4 player in Alabama.

Harris has received scholarship offers from USC, Texas, Penn State, Oklahoma, Utah and many more. The five-star defensive back visited Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame and Ohio State in June.

Harris plays football for Glenwood High School in Phenix City, Alabama, which is located near the Georgia border. Harris also plays running back and shows good balance through contact.

The five-star defensive back prospect live up to his billing at The Opening. He was quite disruptive at the event.

Harris has the potential to finish 2023 as the top-ranked cornerback recruit. He announced his top 13 schools via his Twitter account and says that next will be his commitment:

AJ Harris, who is a rising junior in high school, ranks Georgia, Virginia Tech, Clemson, Ohio State, USC, LSU, Auburn, Alabama, Utah, Notre Dame, Florida, Miami and Texas A&M in his top 13 schools.

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Former Georgia baseball commit flips to play QB for Clemson Tigers

Bubba Chandler, who was recently committed to Georgia baseball, has announced his commitment to Clemson, where he’ll play QB and baseball.

On Wednesday, Clemson football added a commitment from quarterback Bubba Chandler, who until recently was committed to play baseball at Georgia.

Clemson offered Chandler on May 7. On May 11, he announced he’d be reopening his recruitment and that he wanted to play both baseball and football in college.

Chandler announced his decision to play both sports for Clemson via Twitter on May 20.

Out of North Oconee High School in Bogart, Georgia, Chandler is a right-handed pitcher and shortstop. He originally committed to play baseball at UGA in June. With Georgia not being able to offer him a football scholarship, he’s decided to attend Clemson, where he can pursue both sports.

Chandler originally did not expect to receive interest from Clemson, a school that he’s never actually taken a recruiting visit to. But when Clemson quarterback target Christian Veilleux committed to Penn State a few weeks ago, it left the Tigers looking for a signal-caller in their 2021 class. So Clemson took a swing at a two-for-one deal and it paid off.

He did, however, visit Clemson in 2018 when his friend on the football team got him to tickets to see a game in Death Valley.

“[The Clemson coaches] just watched my film, a lot of my Twitter videos, and I talked with the coaches pretty much every day on the phone,” Chandler told ESPN. “Then, of course, our high school head coach knows [Clemson safeties coach] Mickey Conn pretty well. Clemson’s coaches asked our head coach about me, my character, and I guess they liked what they heard.”

Chandler has been playing both sports for nearly his entire life, and will continue that at Clemson.

“They’re going to develop me into the best player I can be in both sports,” Chandler said. “They have a chance to compete for a national championship every year. I’ve always wanted to play football in college, and what better place to play football than at Clemson?”

As for Georgia, the Bulldogs already have another quarterback committed in the 2021 class who also happens to be from Bogart. That’s 5-star dual-threat Brock Vandagriff.

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College Football Morning Announcements for May 20

Good morning and happy Wednesday. Miss recent college football headlines? Get caught up right here, right now!

Happy Wednesday and welcome to the midweek.  I know it’s been a few days since I’ve gotten one of these episodes of the podcast out – sometimes a leaky roof and flooded garage will cause things like that, though.

Subscribe to Nick Shepkowski’s CFB Morning Announcements on Apple Podcasts

In this edition of the College Football Morning Announcements:

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Notre Dame set to re-open for students but school president non-committal to football in the fall

A top linebacker makes his college choice as the rich get richer

An SEC dynasty just fired all of their coaches

And which teams are under the most pressure to win in 2020?

Georgia football misses out on 4-star Suwanee LB Barrett Carter

Georgia football missed out on 4-star OLB Barrett Carter.

On Tuesday, 2021 4-star outside linebacker Barrett Carter announced his commitment on FOX 5 Atlanta.

The Suwanee, Georgia native (North Gwinnett High School) made it known that he would be attending Clemson.

In February, Carter released a list of his top-11 schools and Georgia was included.

Also making the list was Auburn, Alabama, Florida State, LSU, Georgia Tech, Florida, Duke, Oklahoma and Ohio State. And of course, Clemson.

247Sports has Carter (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) ranked as the nation’s No. 56 player overall, the No. 4 outside linebacker and the No. 6 player in Georgia.

247Sports analysts had been projecting Carter to land at Clemson for the past month.

For the 2021 cycle, Georgia has the nation’s No. 19 ranked class, but is clearly going for quality over quantity.

On 247Sports’ team rankings, Georgia’s seven commitments carry an average rating of 94.54, one of the highest in the country. Tennessee, which has the nation’s second ranked class with 22 commits, has an average player rating of 89.62.

Give Kirby Smart some time and he’ll work his magic. There’s no reason to believe Georgia won’t finish with a top-three class. 247Sports has three of the top-11 prospects in America projected to signing with the Dawgs. And that is not including 5-star quarterback Brock Vandagriff, the No. 12 overall player, who has been committed to Georgia since January.

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5-star CB Ga’Quincy McKinstry, a Georgia target, releases top-five

5-star CB Ga’Quincy McKinstry, a big-time Georgia football recruiting target, released his top-five schools on Sunday.

On Sunday, 2021 5-star cornerback Ga’Quincy McKinstry took to Twitter to release his top-five schools.

Out of Pinson Valley High School in Pinson, Alabama, McKinstry tweeted a top-five of Georgia, Alabama, Auburn, LSU and Clemson.

McKinstry ranks as the nation’s No. 23 overall player and as the No. 2 cornerback in the 2021 recruiting class.

According to 247Sports, Alabama is the favorite to land McKinstry, with LSU and Auburn also right there.

Georgia offered McKinstry in March of 2018.

A two-sport star, McKinstry is also a star on the Pinson Valley basketball team. He has won three state championships during his high school career — two in football and one in basketball.

As a cornerback, he earned Alabama Class 6A first-team all-state honors on defense as a sophomore.

Last season, he had 30 tackles, 12 pass breakups and six interceptions.

In addition to defensive back, he also plays wide receiver and kick returner for the Pinson Valley Indians.

Last season as a receiver, McKinstry finished with 47 catches for 700 yards and 12 touchdowns.

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Clemson football coaches coming for Georgia baseball commit

Clemson football coaches are recruiting Georgia baseball commit Bubba Chandler to play QB for the Tigers.

Clemson quarterbacks coach Brandon Streeter and offensive coordinator Tony Elliott have been in touch with 2021 Georgia baseball commit Bubba Chandler.

Out of North Oconee High School in Bogart, Georgia, Chandler is a right-handed pitcher and shortstop. He committed to play baseball at UGA last June.

Clemson quarterback target Christian Veilleux committed to Penn State last week, leaving the Tigers looking for a signal caller in their 2021 class.

Though Chandler is committed to play baseball at Georgia, he has been picking up football offers lately from schools like UNC-Charlotte, Western Kentucky and Troy.

He said that the Auburn football program has also been recruiting him heavily.

Clemson is yet to offer Chandler, but the two sport star told TigerNet that if they do offer he would certainly give them a chance. He said he would love to play both sports in college.

Chandler has not yet been able to visit the Clemson campus, but it appears he is excited to do so when the lockdown is lifted.

As for Georgia, the Bulldogs already have another quarterback from Bogart committed in the 2021 class. That’s 5-star dual-threat Brock Vandagriff.

“I love UGA. But I love football as well,” Chandler told Clemson Insider. “I’m going to look over and consider any opportunity, such as Clemson.”

Georgia football offers scholarship to 2021 four-star DE Cade Denhoff

The Georgia Bulldogs have offered a scholarship to 2021 four-star DE Cade Denhoff, who plays football at Lakeland Christian School.

The Georgia Bulldogs have offered a scholarship to 2021 four-star defensive end Cade Denhoff. Denhoff plays high school football at Lakeland Christian School in Lakeland, Florida and is a top one-hundred recruit in next year’s class.

Denhoff, per 247sports.com, has visited UGA already on an unofficial visit. Denhoff is also considering Clemson, Alabama, Nebraska, and LSU. He was excited to announce his scholarship offer via Twitter:

According to MaxPreps, Denhoff recorded 11 sacks last season. Denhoff also plays basketball. Kirby Smart and Dan Lanning hope Denhoff will be the next great defensive end at UGA.

Denhoff has a 4.2 GPA, is an Under Armor All-American, and is 6’5″, 228 lbs. Denhoff will continue to add to his frame before joining the ranks of major college football.

UGA is currently focusing on the class of 2020. The Dawgs have an elite class of 2020, with several five-stars. UGA only has a few commitments in the class of 2021, but the staff is offering lots of scholarships in recent months.

Georgia failed to make Denhoff’s top seven earlier this year. This came before the Dawgs offered him:

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