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 dominated recruiting all over the country, dipping into talent-rich states like California and Florida for specific prospects and basically getting whichever prospects it wants out of the Southeast.
One area where the Tigers have not had much success at all is Texas, though. The national powerhouse has signed only two players from the state in the Rivals era dating back to 2002 with three-star tight end J.C. Chalk in the 2016 class and three-star OL Clint LaTray in the 2003 class.
Other than that, Clemson has not put an enormous amount of effort into top Texas talent and no other players have signed with the Tigers. Could that be changing?
High four-star safety RJ Mickens from Southlake (Texas) Carroll committed to Clemson during a visit over the weekend. Five-star RB Zachary Evans has mentioned interest in the Tigers but hasn’t been offered yet since he hasn’t visited campus. Others from the state have talked about Clemson as well.
No one is inferring that Clemson is going to come into the state of Texas and start landing some of the state’s top players every recruiting cycle. Texas, Texas A&M, Oklahoma and other have too much of a firm grip on players there.
But could Clemson make Texas another recruiting territory where it goes in and steals a prospect here and there to load up on even more elite players?
FIRST TAKE: Sam Spiegelman, Rivals.com Texas, Louisiana analyst
“Getting Mickens is an anomaly for Clemson. It’s their first commit from Texas since 2016 and that was a three-star tight end. Kids have mentioned Clemson, but it hasn’t been very liberal with offers because of Clemson’s tradition of having to get on campus. Zach Evans is the main one who comes to mind. He has yet to visit Death Valley and so has no offer and he’s largely connected to other schools. Prince Dorbah is another kid who’s mentioned Clemson quite a bit and he released a top five without Clemson in it because he hasn’t gotten the offer.
“Clemson would have a chance, but given their recruiting strategy, more kids from Texas would have to make the trek over to Clemson before they really start establishing themselves in the state so for now, Mickens is kind of the exception to the rule given that he’s been to campus multiple times and committed on the spot during the spring game.”
SECOND TAKE: Mike Farrell, Rivals.com national recruiting director
“They’re going to spot recruit everywhere, especially in the big states like Florida, California and Texas. They’re going to take shots at the guys they really like in those states and they can get anybody.
“The way they’re recruiting, they could go into the Midwest and pull a kid out if they wanted to, which they’ve already done a few times. Texas is another area where you’ll see them make an impact. They definitely don’t make Texas a priority, but if a kid shows interest and they like him enough, they’re going to try to get him on campus, and if they get him on campus then anything can happen.”
