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Tre Lamar committed to Clemson while at the original "All-In" Cookout (not to be confused with the imitation Champions Cookout Alabama now does or the "Pool Party" in a concrete jungle because you don't have a lake and you're jealous of your in-state rival which USCjr puts together for recruits). Lamar has always been a huge part of this recruiting class, which now boasts one of the top LB classes in the country with R. Smith and Skalski already in the fold.
Lamar proves Clemson's brand has staying power in the state of Georgia. Make no mistake, everyone wanted Lamar. He had legit offers from Alabama, Auburn, LSU, Georgia, etc.
At the beginning of the recruiting season, it seemed like a matter of time before Tre committed to Clemson. When he visited in January he had a great visit and the industry sentiment was that he would commit after checking out some places. He routinely named Clemson his leader (got to love Thad's idea to buy the greenscreen to do these Twitter images like the one below, give the man a couple raises).
I had a great visit to clemson today pic.twitter.com/18a7Ju4fPr
— Tre Lamar (@tlamar57) February 1, 2015
Credit goes to Tony Elliott and Brent Venables for establishing a great relationship and remaining consistent and steady through the duration of the process. That sentiment changed as Lamar narrowed things down to Alabama, Auburn, and Clemson.
This would change in March after a visit to Auburn. This was a tough battle between the two Tiger teams. Lamar and his family fit the profile of the recruit Swinney (and every school really) tries to attract. Lamar is a good student, comes from a great family, won't waiver in his commitment, and will be a low maintenance, hard working teammate in the locker room.
Auburn sold him on their engineering program (not the most effective pitch against a superior school like Clemson) and Muschamp developing an emerging defense. He made friends with some of the Auburn players like Carl Lawson (the one who got away..sigh). Lamar also visited Auburn multiple times leading up to his commitment, which always scares you. But this wasn't at all about Auburn's normal shenanigans in recruiting (i.e. Mont Adams, Lawson, etc. etc.). Lamar had genuine interest with Auburn, but he did his due diligence and explored both academic/engineering programs and was resold on the family atmosphere again at the Cookout.
What does Clemson get in Lamar?
He is a legit 6'4, 240 pounds right now. He will play as a run stuffing inside LB who will stay at the LB position and not move to DE like we predicted for someone like Chris Register. This is what Clemson did best in Lamar's recruitment. Other major teams hesitated to offer because they weren't sure if he was going to be a LB or DE and many wanted to evaluate him in person before finally offering. We started back in August of last year and we were consistent in our message that he would be a LB. Auburn waited and didn't offer until January, for example. In April, at a Rivals Camp, Lamar showed off increased agility and ability to play in space--covering TE's and RB's. Everyone was sold; Lamar could stick at LB.
Lamar has the toughness you want in the middle. He diagnoses plays well on film and attacks/punishes ball carriers. The only knock is his ability to flip his hips and play in coverage (this is something he has improved greatly upon in the offseason though and I don't think it will be a big deal in Clemson's current defensive scheme--he really fits what BV wants to do). He will need to continue to work on improving his speed so he can play sideline to sideline and stay on the field for three downs.
It came down to Auburn and Clemson and we beat them. Lamar is a player that helps us beat FSU and compete for national titles.
Blessed and thankful to say I am officially committed to Clemson university pic.twitter.com/vtfvPYlGzr
— Tre Lamar (@tlamar57) July 18, 2015
(Tre's dad is huge...hope it's a package deal.)
***A note on Rahshaun Smith: Yes, he was at Dawg Night last night but it was only because he was accompanying an IMG teammate. He has never had any interest in Georgia. The sharks are circling with Smith--Maryland being the current primary threat. But this is just the AJC and our good buddy Michael Carvell (of Robert Nkemdiche infamy) drumming up hits (certainly it is newsworthy and his prerogative to report but nothing to see here as of right now and Clemson fans shouldn't freak and make it into a storyline).