After receiving an offer from Clemson in August 2020, Toriano Pride Jr. ultimately committed to the Tigers in June 2021, choosing Dabo Swinney’s program over more than two dozen other offers including ones from schools such as Alabama, Auburn, Georgia, Missouri, Ohio State and Oregon.
Now a freshman cornerback for the Tigers with three collegiate games under his belt, Pride met with the media on Tuesday.
The Clemson Insider asked the former four-star prospect and national top-40 player to reflect on his college decision and what the biggest things that drew him to Clemson were during the recruiting process.
“When I looked into Clemson, they’re very family oriented and everybody down here treats you like family,” he said. “I like how Coach Swinney runs everything and how he runs the football team, and how everybody has nothing but good things to say about him.”
“So, that’s really what brought me to Clemson,” he continued. “And another thing was they were low (on depth) at cornerback, so there was no reason not to come here.”
A native of St. Louis who played on the 2019 state title team at Lutheran North High School in Missouri, Pride finished his prep career at East St. Louis High School in Illinois before enrolling at Clemson in January 2022. He went through spring practice and fall camp, then made his college debut in the Tigers’ season opener against Georgia Tech, playing six snaps at Mercedes-Benz Stadium in Atlanta on Sept. 5.
Pride recorded two tackles across 20 snaps vs. Furman in his Death Valley debut on Sept. 10, then added a tackle and three pass breakups while playing 48 snaps in last Saturday’s game vs. Louisiana Tech – his first night game at Death Valley.
“It was fun,” he said. “That was my first night game in the Valley. I never went to a Clemson game before I came here, so it was really fun. It was pumped. But when I was on the field, I had to block out all the noise and all the fans.”
The 5-foot-11, 190-pounder has enjoyed his time as a Tiger since arriving on campus as a midyear enrollee.
“I’ve had a really good experience here so far,” he said. “I’ve been here since the spring, did pretty cool in the spring game and all that, did fall camp. So, I like it here.”
Pride showed off his cover ability, fluidity and physicality throughout the spring, producing a pick-six during a scrimmage and finishing with a team-high seven tackles in a spring game he started.
Before joining Clemson’s program, Pride helped his East St. Louis team to an 11-3 record in 2021, recording 84 tackles and three interceptions as a senior. One big highlight from his final high school campaign was an 82-yard interception return for a touchdown against Belleville West.
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