An NCAA Dead Period ended Thursday, which means that no college coach could initiate contact with a player this week, but there have been some develoments within our class.
- Clemson is no longer heavily pursuing RB D.J. Howard, who was committed to Auburn. Chizik got in there, convinced him that they'll use him as a RB, and now looks like we're out of it. He's all Auburn now it appears. I would be surprised if he came for an official now. With James White committing to Wisconsin, we're done at RB for 2010.
- 2011 LB A.J. Johnson had Clemson just behind UT before Kiffykins bolted, and now we're back atop his list.
- WR Coach Jeff Scott was contacted by Lane Kiffin and offered by USC, but declined the offer it appears. His statement in response was sufficiently vague to leave him some wiggle room. We'll be publishing our evaluation of Jeff soon.
- Justin Parker put Clemson atop his list following his official visit this weekend, but don't get too excited, he changes his mind weekly. He has already taken his official visit to SC (Florida weekend I believe), and LSU is up next, but the Bayou Bengals got him to move his visit for 2 weeks from today. He'll take the SAT this weekend. Georgia Tech is slated for an official on the 29th. The decision will likely come down to the two in-home visits from Spurrier and Swinney the week of NSD. Korncoot reports that Shane Beamer is trying to coax him into another unofficial visit to SC this weekend.
- LB Darius Lipford was in Clemson for his official and enjoyed it, as did everyone over the weekend, and says he'll think about it. It appears though that he'll stick with UNC.
- OG Kalon Davis (6'5" 325) has enrolled early at Clemson, now he can get to his first task of losing weight equivalent to a 13yr old girl. I watched his film, and he is fat and sloooooooooooooooow. Thats not 325 of muscle, more like 350 of jello. He and DT Josh Watson are the only early enrollees.
- Clemson is pushing more for Ferlando Bohanna at LB from Memphis (6'0 230). He's a Miss. State commit who the Tigers offered and then basically dropped off the map for. Only MSU really pursued after that, so he committed to them. Now, Clemson should get at least a visit.
Now for this weekend's official visitors:
- Ricky Chaney - 6'2" 200, 4.45 40', 3-star OLB - Battery Creek, HS SC - Committed to Clemson - #21 player in SC - If he gets in school academically, it'll be by the skin of his teeth. Could also play SS. NC State showed interest, but I do not believe they officially offered.
- Dexter Morant - 6'7" 240, 4.9 40', 4-star Strongside DE - Manning HS, SC - Committed to Georgia - #9 player in SC, #16 DE nationally - Been committed to UGA since July, but the firing of Willie Martinez and Jon Fabris opened the door on his recruitment. His mother was a fan of UGA. Recruited by Chris Rumph. Was highly interested in Alabama and Florida, and Bama wants him as a JACK linebacker (weakside MLB in a 3-4, which makes no sense to me, he's too big) or OLB (makes much more sense). His teammate John Fulton is committed to Bama as a Corner. 2011 DT Phillip Dukes, his teammate, is a Clemson lean. I think Clemson can turn this one.
- Joe Craig - 6'0 170, 4.4 40', 3-star WR - Gaffney HS, SC - Committed to Clemson - #38 athlete and #14 player in SC. Won the state 200m. Is really raw, as I watch Gaffney every week. Played QB last year for Gaffney, WR and KR/PR this year. Is really explosive, but underutilized because of poor QB play at Gaffney. He'll require a lot of coaching to play in the slot at Clemson, and I'd expect him to redshirt.
- David Beasley - OG - Carver HS, GA - Committed to Clemson - Being pushed heavily by UGA. Had said he was done with recruitment, but the late push by UGA has convinced his family to take an official there on Jan 22, though he says he's still set on CU. He's probably the best OL in our class, so we can't afford to lose him. Teammate Corey Crawford is a CU commit. Offered by UGA, Miami, Arkansas, Ole Miss, UCLA.
- Martavis Bryant - 6'4" 190, 4.4 40', 4 star WR - T.L. Hanna HS, SC - Committed to Clemson - #5 WR and #6 player in SC - The headliner of the class with DeAndre Hopkins. Rivals100 player. Tall and lanky, and will need to put on about 10-20 lbs in college, but could compete for an outside WR position immediately. Offered by nearly everyone but has been solidly Clemson since February.
- Vic Beasley - 6'5" 213, 4.47 40', 3-star TE - Adairsville HS, GA - Committed to Clemson - #32 player in GA, #30 athlete - Probably the softest of Clemson's commits, saying he's "90% Clemson". Billy Napier's dad is his HS off coord., and his dad played for Auburn, who are pushing heavily for his services. Could take an official there next weekend. Offered by Bama, Duke, and ECU as well. He had favored Alabama earlier in the process but when they filled up, he backed away. Honestly I think Napier dropped the ball earlier with his recruitment, as he has commented several times after the late summer dead period that he hadn't heard at all from Clemson, but this has changed since then.
- Sam Cooper - 6'5" 230, 4.73 40', 2-star TE - Ensworth HS, TN - Committed to Clemson - Considered a sleeper, and plays in a run-oriented offense. Offered by Michigan State and Duke. Mike Palmer was a 2-star.
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Ethan Farmer - 6'2" 257, 4.85 40', 4-star TE - South Columbus HS, NC - Uncommitted but UNC lean- Rated as a #12 TE nationally, but will play DT in college. Has grade problems, and seems to be a JUCO or Prep school placement. Being recruited by Dan Brooks. Offered by Bama, UNC, Tenn, VT, Penn State, NC State. If NC gets him in academically but we don't, somebody should be decapitated.