Clemson has landed a verbal commitment from one of the nation’s top linebacker prospects in the 2021 class.

Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett four-star Barrett Carter announced his commitment to the Tigers on Tuesday evening via a local Atlanta television broadcast. He is ranked as the No. 4 outside linebacker and No. 56 overall prospect in the country according to the 247Sports Composite.

It was a special birthday for his mother.

“It is my mom’s birthday so I wanted to give her a special gift,” Carter said on Fox 5 Atlanta as he announced his decision.

Carter (6-1, 210) chose Clemson over finalists Auburn, Georgia and Ohio State as well as many other offers from schools such as Alabama, Duke, Florida, Florida State, Georgia Tech, LSU, Michigan, Notre Dame, Oklahoma, Penn State, Stanford, Texas and Texas A&M.

“I have decided to continue my academic and athletic career at Clemson University,” Carter announced on Fox 5.

Georgia was long viewed as the frontrunner for Carter, and Auburn has been squarely in contention, but Clemson made a major move with Carter when it got him back on campus for the program’s junior day in early March.

It marked his first visit to Clemson since he attended the Florida State game at Death Valley last October, and he came away extremely impressed.

“That visit was amazing because that was my first actual non-game-day visit to Clemson, so it was really good to see how the coaches operate in a non-game situation, just seeing how they interact with the recruits and how they interact with parents and all that,” Carter told The Clemson Insider. “So, it was really good, and I got to talk to Coach Swinney. When they first offered me at the Florida State game, when I talked to Coach Swinney it was very brief. I really got to talk to him, and he was just saying how he was so happy that we got to make it up to Clemson. He’s just a great man in general, so it was good to finally talk to him.”

Carter is very fond of Swinney and his entire staff.

“Coach Swinney, he’s a legend to me,” Carter said. “He’s one of the best coaches in college football, but he’s also a really good man, and that speaks volumes when trying to choose a school because you don’t just want a coach that’s all about football and everything. The way that he can balance both and be a great man also, that’s huge. And all the coaches are really the same way. They’re all men of faith, so that’s huge to me.”

Aiding Clemson’s recruiting efforts with Carter was his teammate at North Gwinnett and close friend, four-star cornerback Jordan Hancock, who committed to the Tigers on March 11.

Carter becomes the 11th commitment in Clemson’s 2021 recruiting class and second commitment from a linebacker, joining Philadelphia (Pa.) St. Joseph’s four-star Jeremiah Trotter Jr.

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