Take Two: Could Clemson land a record number of 5-stars?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.com National Recruiting Analyst Adam Gorney lays out the situation and then receives takes from Rivals.com National Recruiting Director Mike Farrell and an expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites or a regional analyst.
THE STORYLINE
Clemson has been on an epic recruiting run, landing four-straight five-star prospects and that streak could continue soon when five-star defensive end Myles Murphy makes his commitment with the Tigers and Auburn on top of his list.
We are entering all-time greatest recruiting class territory with this Clemson group that is now led by quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, running back Demarkcus Bowman, defensive end Bryan Bresee and cornerback Fred Davis, all five-stars and all out-of-state prospects.
In 2004, USC signed eight five-star prospects and that number was matched by Georgia with its phenomenal 2018 recruiting class where the Bulldogs finished with eight five-star recruits through the signing periods.
If Murphy picks Clemson, that would give the national champs five five-stars and would put them even more within striking distance of getting to eight or even eclipsing it. And there are five-star targets remaining on the board even if some could be long shots.
Catawissa (Pa.) Southern Columbia receiver Julian Fleming is one and he announces later this month. Columbia (S.C.) Hammond School five-star defensive end Jordan Burch is another top prospect that looks to have Clemson and South Carolina atop his list. He’s the state’s top player.
Two other West prospects - defensive end Sav’ell Smalls and linebacker Justin Flowe - have shown serious interest in the Tigers. And there might be some later surprises along the way.
Clemson is recruiting at an unreal clip, but can the Tigers match or exceed the five-stars USC and Georgia have landed in their record-setting classes?
FIRST TAKE: Paul Strelow, TigerIllustrated.com
“Clemson is in the process of putting together a class that could be characterized as special by several metrics. Right now, the Tigers would post the third-best per-prospect star rating in Rivals.com history, and if they net a fifth straight five-star commitment this week with Murphy, that figure will only rise. The testament to Clemson’s momentum is no one in the network era has collected so many five-stars this early in the process.
“Clemson nabbed six five-stars in the 2018 class, and here’s believing that’s the reasonable bar for this class as well. There just aren’t that many spots left in its class, combined with the fact that Burch is the only one of the select few remaining targets who’s in the five-star equation as circumstances stand.”
SECOND TAKE: Mike Farrell, Rivals.com
“It’s a great class, but I don’t think they’re going to get to eight because they’re only taking 19 or 20 kids. It’s still going to be a small class. They don’t have many transfers and they usually don’t lose commitments, so they would really have to hit a home run moving forward to hit that eight mark with a small class.
“If it was a class of 25, I would say sure, Clemson would probably tie it, but it doesn’t matter. It’s all about quality with Clemson anyway. They’re just recruiting just at as high a level as any team in the country, including Alabama.”