Clemson lands Rivals100 LB Barrett Carter
THE SITUATION: Over 40 schools offered Barrett Carter. So he had plenty of options.
The four-star out of Suwanee (Ga.) North Gwinnett only trimmed his list down once, and that was to 11 schools very early in the spring, but in his mind, the list was always shorter.
Alabama hung around for a while, but by mid February, the Crimson Tide was all but out of the race. This came down to Auburn, Clemson, Georgia and Ohio State. All four power programs made strong cases to land Carter, and there really wasn't an order in the end, just Clemson No. 1, and all the others lost out on one of the top defenders in the 2021 class.
The decision was made a few weeks ago, and Carter proudly announced it publicly Tuesday May 19, on his mother's birthday.
IN HIS OWN WORDS: "I have thought about this for a long time, and it did happen a little earlier than I expected it too, but I knew where I wanted to go, so there was no reason to wait," said Carter. "It is a feeling of relief now more than anything. The recruiting process has been long, hard, stressful and I am very happy to have it over.
"It was a very tough decision. I have built a lot of strong relationships, I have high thoughts of a lot of schools, and in that aspect, it was tough. But it wasn't tough to see Clemson is the right school for me and to commit to them.
"I do not have the exact thing that pushed me to Clemson. I can visit Clemson a million times and still get butterflies before every visit. It is just different with Clemson. It is where I want to me. I cannot put it into words, but Clemson makes me feel different.
"That last visit before the virus hit did change things for me with Clemson. I went into that visit thinking it would be a normal visit. I was not thinking about committing, I had no plans to commit soon going into that visit, but that visit changed my thinking. I always had Clemson high on my list, but that visit skyrocketed them up the list.
"Over the last six to nine months, my list did change a lot. It was Georgia. Then it was Ohio State. I can say Auburn was there a few times too. Now Clemson is at the top, they have been for some time and they will be until I sign now. The schools did rotate some though over the last six months though, but over this quarantine time, I had more time to think things over, and it came to me that Clemson was the perfect fit for me.
"I am so happy now to put this out and to get it over with. There was not a specific thing that happened that told me Clemson and that this was the right time, but just a random time about three weeks ago. I was leaning that way, but late April is really when it hit me that Clemson was where I wanted to be.
"This was really a process of elimination for me. It wasn't easy, because all the schools I was focused on are great schools, but one by one, I went down the list, and Clemson was just the one.
"I told coach Venables a little over two weeks ago. We were playing around first, then I caught him off guard and told him I was coming to Clemson. He was shocked. I talked to coach Swinney about it about a week after that, and he was very excited too.
"They thought I was a lock to Georgia for a long time, so I think I shocked them when I committed. They did not believe it. They really didn't think they had a real shot for me for the longest time, so when I really told the Clemson coaches I committing, they welcomed me to the family and made sure I knew they were happy to have me.
"I thought I would wait this out, take my official visits and all that before committing, but I know where I want to be. I am not a fan of committing, then visiting other schools and all that, so I will only be visiting Clemson moving forward. I am giving Clemson my word and I am locked in."
WHO IT HURTS MOST: Georgia. And it is not really close. Sure, Auburn and Ohio State wanted Carter, and they invested a lot of time into his recruitment, but Carter was a priority for Georgia early and the in-state school got beat by a school just over an hour northeast of them. This one definitely stings in Athens. Georgia was hoping to land the top two linebackers in their home state this year, Carter, along with Smael Mondon, and now they have lost out on one. Clemson beat Georgia head-to-head in this race.
RIVALS REACTION: What a home run this is for Clemson. The Tigers already landed Carter's teammate, cornerback Jordan Hancock, running back Phil Mafah and wide receiver Dacari Collins out of Georgia, so Clemson how has four commits from Peach State prospects. Carter is the highest ranked prospect of that group, and he is now the second highest commitment in this class. He is a do-it-all linebacker who can line up inside, outside, cover down the field, blitz the quarterback and in a new age of college football, he is a linebacker that can stay on the field for three downs. Carter is physical, fast, smart, aggressive, instinctive and a player that Brent Venables will have a hard time keeping off the field in 2021. Carter is a special talent and Clemson snatched out of the state of Georgia.