Last year, Clemson went into the state of Alabama and pulled out its No. 1 ranked player in wide receiver Justyn Ross. It marked just the third time since Nick Saban took over at Alabama in 2007 that the No. 1 player in the state did not stay home.
Not even a year later, Ross came back to haunt the Crimson Tide as the true freshman from Phenix City caught six passes for 153 yards and one touchdown in the Tigers’ 44-16 win over Alabama in the College Football Playoff National Championship Game last month.
This year, Clemson returned to Alabama and pulled out two more of its best players in 4-star linebacker LaVonta Bentley of Birmingham and Ross’ high school teammate in defensive back Ray Thornton from Phenix City.
Clemson recruiting coordinator Brandon Streeter said it has been easy for the Tigers to go into Alabama and anywhere in the country right now and get, for the most part, who they want. Clemson’s 29 signees for 2019 represent 14 states, the most for a Clemson signing class since 1989, Danny Ford’s last.
That ties for the most different states in a class on record, as well. The previous high for Clemson under head coach Dabo Swinney was 10 in the classes of 2016 and 2017.
This year, Clemson signed players from California, Michigan, Connecticut and Pennsylvania for the first time under Swinney. Clemson signed two players rated as the No. 1 player in their respective states, including Connecticut quarterback Taisun Phommachanh (top-ranked in his state by Rivals and ESPN) and Pennsylvania linebacker Keith Maguire (top-ranked by Rivals).
This signing class includes seven from the state of Florida, the most representatives from the Sunshine State since 2008 when a school-record nine Floridians came to Clemson. The 2008 and 2019 classes mark the only times Clemson has signed at least seven student-athletes from Florida.
Clemson signed eight from the state of Georgia, the most from that state since 1998 when Tommy West’s last class featured nine players from Georgia. The record for signees from Georgia in a single class is 11 in 1985.
Wide receiver Joseph Ngata (Folsom, Calif.) is the first signee from the state of California to come to Clemson since 1991 when Bobby Forbes signed with the Tigers.
McGuire (Media, Pa.) was the first student-athlete from Pennsylvania to sign with Clemson since 1995 when Streeter, a former quarterback, signed with the Tigers out of Gettysburg.
Phommachanh was the first resident of Connecticut to sign with the Tigers since 1996 when Jason Martinelli and Idris Price signed with West and the Clemson program. Current Clemson All-American Christian Wilkins played his high school football in Connecticut at Suffield, Conn., but lived in Springfield, Mass.
After not signing anyone from Louisiana in 13 years prior to 2017, Clemson has now had a signee from that state in two of the last three years (Travis Etienne in the Class of 2017 and Bryton Constantin in the Class of 2019).
Defensive lineman Ruke Orhorhoro was the first Clemson signee to play his high school football in Michigan since 1975 (Joe Carolan).
The train of momentum will not be slowing down anytime soon, either. Since the Tigers’ 28-point win over Alabama on Jan. 7, Streeter says the reception on the recruiting trail has been great for Clemson, including in the state of Alabama.
“It has been incredible,” he said. “I think it is hard to argue the fact that we dominated that game. I just think that by us being able to go into the state of Alabama and recruit like we have been the last year or two, I think that things have been changing.
“Things are changing. It is just proof.”
The proof is in the numbers. Though Clemson has never signed a No. 1 recruiting class, the Tigers always seem to be ranked in the top 10. And that was again the case with the 2019 class.
When National Signing Day was all said and done on Wednesday, Clemson finished ranked No. 9 by Rivals, No. 10 by 247Sports and No. 10 by ESPN. Clemson has now ranked in the Top 10 in ESPN”s recruiting rankings each of the last five years, in the top 10 in Rivals’ recruiting rankings in four of the last five years and in 247Sports’ top 10 each of the last two years.
Clemson has recorded consensus top 10 recruiting classes with those three services in back-to-back years for the first time. Clemson’s class ranked fifth, fifth and eighth according to ESPN, 247Sports and Rivals, respectively, a year ago.
Clemson’s recruiting ranking led all ACC programs.
“Obviously, Alabama is an unbelievable program, but we are the best one right now and it is hard to argue that,” Streeter said.
Move over Alabama, Clemson is the new King of College Football. In our new magazine “Little Ole Clemson”: The Best “Little” Dynasty Ever, we examine not just the 2018 team’s run to being “the best ever” but examine the last four seasons and how Dabo Swinney turned Clemson into the new dynasty of college football. We also take a look at the role former athletic director Terry Don Phillips played. We go behind the scenes at the Tigers’ run to a second national championship in three seasons and the previous three national championship runs. It also features stories on the Power Rangers, the 2018 senior class, high quality photos and much, much more.
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