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This Sunday Clemson’s entire freshman class will arrive on campus to begin summer school and summer workouts. Though these guys all missed out on spring practice, the next month will be critical to their adjustment to college football and it will play a big part in determining just how much some of these guys will contribute in their freshman year.
Decision’s drawing nearer for WR targets:
Clemson already has one commitment at the WR position in this ’18 class in Derion Kendrick (Rock Hill, SC). Those of you who have been following 2018 recruitment know that Kendrick is legit. The 6’1 195 pound receiver is relatively quiet off the field; he chooses to do his talking on the field where he backs it up and then some. DK is an elusive route runner with good speed, and he is competition personified. He is listed as a 4-star WR by 247 composite score: the #13 WR, #1 in SC, and #74 Overall player. Clemson will most likely take one more receiver in this class, and it appears the top targets as of now might be Justyn Ross (Phenix City, AL), Brennan Eagles (Houston, TX), and Jordyn Adams (Cary, NC).
Eagles is the highest rated of the three: #4 WR, #3 TX, #24 Overall, just edging Ross by one spot in the 247 WR composite rankings. He’s a 5-star big body receiver at 6’4 215 pounds with great speed for his size. He recently made the trip to Clemson back in April, where he had a productive visit. Both Eagles and his mother seem high on Clemson and their tradition of WRU, but it's my opinion (and many others’) that in-state Texas and new coach Tom Herman are the team to beat here. Eagles recently set an announcement date of July 17th and will play in the US Army All America game.
Adams is a two sport athlete from the Carolina to the North, who hopes to play both football and baseball in college. He has great athletic potential with tremendous speed and vertical leaping ability. Although not quite as highly ranked in the 247 composite as the other two listed here, Adams is still an elite prospect: #23 WR, #6 NC, #127 Overall. He has recently narrowed his choice down to Clemson and North Carolina. His father, Deke Adams, was added to Carolina’s (the real one) coaching staff as their defensive line coach, so it's understandable that an opportunity to stay in-state to play for a school that your father coaches at may be too hard to pass up. Plus he would have an easier path up the depth chart than at Clemson, who is loaded with talent. The Tigers are not to be counted out here, however, as Adams speaks to Coach Jeff Scott and Coach Brandon Streeter several times a week, and has even been in contact with baseball coach Monte Lee. Adams knows he is a priority target for Clemson, and their success developing receivers is hard to ignore. Adams will announce his decision on July 3rd, at The Opening Finals.
Ross is probably my personal favorite of the three receivers here (for whatever that means to you). A 5-Star 6’4 197 pound receiver out of Alabama, I have heard more than one comparison to a baby Julio Jones. Clemson will probably face its most fierce recruiting competition here, as Ross is highly coveted by both in-state powers Alabama and Auburn (among many others), and it's not often that the #1 player IN the state of Alabama gets recruited OUT of the state of Alabama. However having said that, oddly enough, I like Clemson’s chances here more than with the other two guys. He's visited campus multiple times recently, tweeting out after one visit: “I can honestly say that today was one of the best visits I've ever been on”. Clemson has rapidly risen among his favorites and made the cut when Ross released his Top 5 this week of Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida St., and Florida. Most believe it will ultimately be a three team race between Alabama, Auburn, and Clemson.
Landing any one of these three receivers to go along with Derion Kendrick I'm sure would have a certain 5-star QB from Cartersville, GA licking his chops. It's interesting to wonder, just like at the RB position for this class, which direction the Tigers will go in should they miss out on their top choice(s) at the position. There have been other names at WR connected to Clemson for this 2018 class such as Kevin Austin or Jacob Copeland, but none that I believe the Tigers are heavily pursuing at this time.
“I don't think I had a school that finished 2nd”
It was Clemson and then everybody else for elite Athlete Kyler McMichael (Norcross, GA) who committed to the Tigers early this morning via his Twitter account. Clemson continues its impressive run on Atlanta DB’s, adding McMichael to a group that includes AJ Terrell and LeAnthony Williams Jr from this past 2017 recruiting class. McMichael has been considered a Clemson lean for a few weeks now, but his decision to announce came as sort of a surprise. Well not sort of… it was definitely pretty unexpected. McMichael very recently narrowed his top schools down to a group of 6 which he released on June 14th. McMichael then stated that he would like to visit all of his top schools at least once more for an overnight visit, before making his decision around possibly September or so. Then, just a few days ago out of the blue, rumors started to float around that McMichael was ready to make his decision. It was hard to decipher if this was a promising or ominous sign for the Tigers, but ultimately it went the right way for the good guys. What the Tigers gained in McMichael is an elite and incredibly versatile athlete. These players are becoming highly coveted by all the major programs; the Jabrill Peppers do-it-all type player, the Swiss Army knife guy. Several schools were pursuing McMichael as a running back in this class. He has the ideal size, speed, and of course talent, to play the position at a high level. However most schools, including Clemson, are recruiting him as a DB where he is Top 15 at his position nationally and climbing. He mentioned after his trip to Auburn for their “Big Cat Weekend” that part of Auburn’s pitch to him was utilizing him on both sides of the ball, and Clemson had a very similar pitch to him about being a two-way player. I wouldn't be surprised to see Kyler play mostly at DB when he arrives at Clemson, with some offensive packages sprinkled in for him. If you haven't had a chance to read his commitment statement on Twitter, he comes across as a thoughtful, educated, and eloquent young man. Clemson’s 2018 class is currently 6th in the country.
Offers and Other News:
Jaquaze Sorrells a 6’3 290 pound 2019 DE (Largo, FL) was offered by Clemson last week. He is currently committed to Florida but highly covets his offer by Clemson. Cam’ron Kelly a 4-star 2019 CB (Chesapeake, VA) was offered by Clemson and tweeted out that he was “honored and grateful beyond measures”. Clemson offered 6’4 310 pound 2019 OT Harry Miller (Buford, GA) this week. Also offered this week was 6’2 190 pound 2019 Safety Joseph Charleston (Alpharetta, GA). Clemson made the top groups for 4-star safety Isheem Young (Philadelphia, PA) and 3-star ATH Taye Barber (Cypress, TX).