Clemson Football Recruiting: Top Recruits Visiting Tigers

For more Tigers football, visit Clemson blog Shakin’ The Southland.

Dabo Swinney once looked like he’d pulled one of the best classes in the country. Slowly, but very, very surely, it fell apart.

Crowder is considered the eighth-best player at his position and the No. 161 overall prospect in the class of 2013 by 247Sports. Rivals rates him similarly, but a bit lower in both cases.

SB Nation’s Shakin The Southland says Crowder will play guard at the college level, and that he could be a contributor early in his career:

The 6’4, 265 lb Central (S.C.) D.W. Daniel High School product could get a chance to play early in his career at Clemson, as the Tigers will need a replacement for the departing Malliciah Goodman. Clemson has two other defensive ends in their 2013 class in Ebenezer Ogundeko and Dane Rogers, but Lawson looks to be the current class of that group. He is certainly the most physically ready to play of the three.

Clemson’s 2013 class doesn’t quite measure up to their past few groups, but it’s still a top 25 class by pretty much all measures. Also, with only 18 commits currently on the board, they still have room to add a few players before National Signing Day on Feb. 6.

As National Signing Day nears, the usual suspects in the ACC are poised to bring in the league’s best recruiting hauls. Florida State, which signed a top-10 class last year, is ranked in Rivals’ top 20 for 2013 (UPDATE: the Jalen Ramsey flip has FSU up to No. 13); Virginia Tech and Clemson are also in the top 20.

The Seminoles and Tigers continue to fight for control of the Atlantic Division, and their strong recruiting has put them on a tier above the other teams in the division. Virginia Tech, meanwhile, is trying to bounce back from a 7-6 season and re-establish its status as the Coastal’s best program.

Reed was hired earlier this month to take over for Charlie Harbison, who left the Tigers to join Gus Malzahn’s first staff at Auburn. The new Clemson secondary coach recruited Priester, a four-star wide receiver, and Edmond, a three-star defensive back, while at N.C. State .

The Tigers previously had not shown much interest in Edmond, South Carolina’s 12th-best prospect in the class of 2013, and when Reed made the offer, Edmond immediately began having second thoughts about the Wolfpack:

Clemson has a big recruiting weekend ahead of it, as three prospects in the class of 2013 are visiting. Winter Park (Fla.) High School quarterback Asiantii Woulard, who is a former South Florida commitment, is one of them. Wide receivers James Clark, of New Smyrna Beach (Fla.) High School, and Kyrin Priester, of Snellville (Ga.) Brookwood High School, are the other two. Temperatures will be a bit chilly this weekend in Clemson, but the prospects will enjoy sunny days during their visit.

Woulard is rated a four-star prospect by Rivals.com and is considered the fourth-best dual-threat quarterback in the 2013 class. He has already visited N.C. State and Kentucky and has a trip to UCLA scheduled for Jan. 25.

Robinson stars for Fort Valley (Ga.) Peach County High School. He is a consensus four-star recruit, and one of the top receivers in the country. At 6’2 and 200 pounds, Robinson is far too much for most high school defensive backs to handle, and he has true college-ready size as a high school senior. With that, Robinson combines excellent body control.

The addition of new receivers coach Joker Phillips, formerly the head coach of Kentucky, appeared to seal the deal for the Gators, but Clemson did not give up, and the long-standing relationships Robinson has with Clemson’s staff may have played a role in the flip.

The decision is certainly not unexpected, and comes after weeks of speculation that the Loganville (Ga.) Grayson High School star would back off of his commitment because of family pressure to attend Ole Miss with his brother, Denzel, a talented freshman defender for the Rebels.

Several weeks ago, SB Nation’s Steven Godfrey published an in-depth article after talking with several sources at the school. In it, he indicated that the Ole Miss sources were extremely confident that the 6’4, 270-pound defensive end would ultimately end up in Oxford.

Update: Elijah Daniel reportedly claiming he’s been “hacked.” The tweet below has been deleted.

Could be a bad sign for Clemson’s chances of keeping Nkemdiche as well, especially with Ole Miss making such a strong push:

In late September, thanks to the help of the Clemson experts at Shakin The Southland, we published Why won’t Clemson pursue JUCO recruits to fix defense? The story received a lot of recognition, and Monday, Clemson’s beat writers asked Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney about the issue.

Needless to say, Swinney is frustrated. These quotes come from Travis Sawchik of The Post and Courier:

Never was Clemson’s need for improved talent on defense more evident than Saturday night in Tallahassee. Florida State racked up 49 points despite losing a possession to a muffed punt, missing two field goals and taking a knee deep in Clemson territory.

New Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables had stopped Florida State with great effectiveness in his two previous years at Oklahoma. That he couldn’t fully run his Oklahoma plan, or anything close to it, shows that the Tigers lack talent. Sure, it takes time to implement a new scheme. And Florida State’s offense is much improved. But the type of offense on display Saturday night doesn’t happen without a lack of defensive talent.

At 6-foot-4 and 280 pounds, Pagano is an extremely strong player who easily overpowers his competition. But strength isn’t the only weapon in his arsenal; Pagano also flashes excellent quickness off the ball. Pagano does have family in South Carolina, however, and that also is thought to have factored in his decision.

Pagano is Clemson’s 16th commitment of the 2013 class, and the first defensive tackle. Clemson could take as many as 25 players in the cycle.

Now Nkemdiche tells the Atlanta Journal Constitution that he’ll cement his commitment to Clemson if the Tigers take teammate Ryan Carter.

Carter is 5’10 and 175 pounds. A safety recruit, his best offers include Ole Miss and Arkansas State. That’s not exactly Clemson material, though it is still early in the process, and he may gain more offers as his name gets out there.

Clemson continues its excellent run of June recruiting with the addition of verbal commitments from offensive tackle Maverick Morris and defensive end Dane Rogers. As opposed to the commitments secured last week from mega recruits Robert Nkemdiche and Elijah Daniel, Morris and Rogers are rather unheralded.

But that doesn’t mean they lack talent.