Notes on Clemson's 2014 recruiting class |
Notes on Clemson’s 2014 recruiting class:
•Clemson had 12 players ranked among the top 300 players in the nation regardless of position by various recruiting services for 2014 (see chart below). Quarterback
Deshaun Watson Deshaun Watson •Watson was the top ranked Tiger by every service except for Scout.com, who had receiver
Trevion Thompson Trevion Thompson •Watson was the only incoming freshman in the top 100 by all six services.
Artavis Scott Artavis Scott •Four Clemson signees, Watson, Scott, Rogers and Thompson, were ranked in the top 300 by all six services. •Tom Lemming ranked 10 Clemson signees in his top 300 for 2014. That included Watson and Rogers with top 100 rankings. ESPN.com and College Football News had nine Tigers in the top 300 for this year.
Quarterback
6-3, 190
Gainesville, GA
ESPN:
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was the highest rated in five of the six services reviewed,including a #3 ranking by Tom Lemming that was the best of any Clemson incoming signee.
Wide Receiver
6-3, 190
Durham, NC
ESPN:
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as Clemson’s best player with a #73 ranking.
Wide Receiver
5-11, 180
Tarpon Springs, FL
ESPN:
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was second with four top 100 rankings and he also had one at 102.Clemson Individual Player Rankings
Player ESPN Rivals 247 Scout Lemming CFN
•Watson was the only incoming Tiger to make the Parade All-American team and was the only Tiger on the USA Today (second team) All-American team. Watson is the first Clemson signee to make any USA Today All-America team as a quarterback.
•Demarre Kitt, Korie Rogers, Artavis Scott and Richard Yeargin III all played in the US Army All-American game in San Antonio.
•Watson was selected for the Under Armour All-American game in Orlando, but did not play due to injury.
•Six new Tigers, three for each team, played in the Shrine Bowl in Spartanburg, SC in December, 2013. Playing for North Carolina were Trevion Thompson, Chris Register and
Jabril Robinson Jabril Robinson
Defensive Tackle
6-4, 256
Leland, NC
ESPN:
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. Playing for South Carolina were Jae’lon Oglesby,
Alex Spence Alex Spence
Kicker
6-2, 190
Florence, SC
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and
Kendall Joseph Kendall Joseph
Linebacker
5-11, 228
Belton, SC
ESPN:
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.
•Six members of Clemson’s signees class played in the Offense-Defense All-Star Game in Orlando in early January. Those players were Jabril Robinson, Kendall Joseph,
Jalen Williams Jalen Williams
Linebacker
6-0, 215
Blythewood, SC
ESPN:
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,
C.J. Fuller C.J. Fuller
Running Back
5-10, 200
Easley, SC
ESPN:
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, Jae’lon Oglesby and Cannon Smith.
•As a class, Clemson was ranked 12th by ESPN.com, 13th by Rivals.com, 15th by Bleacher Report and 18th by 247 Sports.
•ESPN.com recruiting rankings date to 2006 and Clemson has been in the top 20 in each of the nine season-ending team rankings. The eight schools to do that are Alabama, Clemson, Texas, LSU, Southern Cal, Georgia, Florida and Ohio State. Clemson’s average final ranking by ESPN for the nine years it has done recruiting rankings is 12.6.
•Clemson has had a nice run in recruiting the last four years with four consecutive top 15 final rankings by ESPN.com. Clemson, LSU Florida State, Alabama, Georgia, Ohio State, Florida and Notre Dame are the only eight schools in the country to rank in the top 15 each of those four years (2011-14). Clemson is 3-1 against those schools over the last 14 games.
•Clemson had five signees from the state of Georgia who were ranked in the top 15 in the state by Rivals.com, the only school in the nation who could make that claim. Georgia was second with four among the top 15.
•Clemson’s class had three of the top 25 wide receivers (Artavis Scott, Trevion Thompson and Demarre Kitt) in the nation according to ESPN.com, the only school in the nation that could make that claim. That does not include Kyrin Priester, who comes to Clemson as the number one ranked receiver in the nation among prep school players for this year by Rivals.com
•According to ESPN.com Clemson’s class has two (Cannon Smith and Milan Richard) of the top three tight end/H back players in the country in this class.
•Relatively Speaking: Cannon Smith is the son of former Clemson defensive end Bill Smith, a starter on Clemson’s 1981 National Championship team.
•Twin brothers J.D. and
Judah Davis Judah Davis
Linebacker
6-2, 215
Central, SC
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are the sons of former Clemson All-American and College Football Hall of Fame inductee Jeff Davis.
•Tight end Milan Richard is the nephew of 1982 Heisman Award winner and former Georgia Bulldog Herschel Walker. Clemson’s first game next year is against Georgia, his uncle’s alma mater.
•Running back Adam Choice is the cousin of former Georgia Tech running back and current NFL back Tashard Choice.
•Clemson had three signees (
J.D. Davis J.D. Davis
Linebacker
6-2, 215
Central, SC
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, Judah Davis and Jae’lon Oglesby) from Daniel High School in Clemson. Daniel High grads expected to return to the Tigers for 2014 are Shaq Lawson, C.J. Davidson, Deshawn Williams, Justin Miller and Adrien Dunn. So there could be eight Daniel High grads on the Clemson team this coming season. Current NFL players from Clemson include DeAndre Hopkins (Houston Texans) and Jarvis Jenkins (Washington Redskins).
•Clemson’s list of 22 signees includes nine student-athletes from South Carolina, six from Georgia, four from North Carolina, two from Florida and one from Maryland. It is the first time Clemson has had signees from just five states since 2001.
•The six signees from the state of Georgia are the most for the Clemson program since the Tigers had seven sign from Georgia in 2010. It is tied for the second most Tiger signees from the state of Georgia since 1998 when the program had nine. Clemson has had at least one signee from Georgia 22 of the last 23 years. The only year Clemson did not have a signee from Georgia in the last 23 years was the class of 2012.
•Clemson had four signees from the state of North Carolina, meaning Clemson has had at least one signee from the Tar Heel state each of the last 10 years. Clemson has gotten 15 signees from North Carolina over the last four years.
Schools with a Top 13 Recruiting Ranking by ESPN.com 2011-14)
School 2011 2012 2013 2014 Alabama 2 1 1 1 Clemson 8 10 13 12 Florida 12 4 2 6 Florida State 1 2 9 3 Georgia 6 5 10 9 Notre Dame 9 9 4 11 Ohio State 7 6 3 7
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