Take Two: Is Clemson poised to land another out-of-state 5-star?
Take Two returns with a daily offering tackling an issue in the college football landscape. Rivals.comNational 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
Myles Murphy had targeted August for his commitment timeline so he could get his decision out of the way before his senior season gets underway.
The five-star defensive end from Powder Springs (Ga.) Hillgrove has now decided to move his date way up - to May 17 - at halftime of his spring game. So Murphy will have his commitment done even before his junior ends.
Clemson, Georgia and Auburn are the three schools involved with Murphy, who has visited all three programs numerous times. But his most recent visit to Clemson could have been the most telling because shortly after that trip the five-star decided to move up his announcement date.
The national champs have been on an incredible run landing five-stars with recent pledges from quarterback D.J. Uiagalelei, running back Demarkcus Bowman, defensive end Bryan Bresee and cornerback Fred Davis.
Will Murphy state in-state and pick the Bulldogs, surprise a lot of people by going to Auburn or is this another inevitable five-star commitment for Clemson?
FIRST TAKE: Chad Simmons, Rivals.com Southeast analyst
“Clemson has been the team to beat for me down in this part of the country since the beginning of the year. Just the culture, him being at Clemson, it was one of his last visits. There are some rumors he took a trip to Georgia on the back end of that the next day, but he hasn’t confirmed that. Clemson is in a great spot. It’s a good sign if you’re a Clemson fan that he’s been there a couple of times this year and the culture seems to be a fit for him.
“He also talked about the fit defensively. Georgia likes him as an outside linebacker, to stand up, and Clemson wants him to play defensive end with his hand in the dirt and he’s always played defensive end so I think that’s also a pro for them as well.”
SECOND TAKE: Mike Farrell, Rivals.com national recruiting director
“Murphy could be that next five-star that decides to go to Clemson and the next great player they get out of Georgia. It seems like Georgia was in there for quite some time and then maybe they took a lead for a little bit but now Clemson has lined up his commitment.
“He changed his commitment date for a reason. It’s one of his recent Clemson visits and the fact that he wants to be a part of it. They’re looking to get a five-star recruit every other week. They got Bowman, they got Uiagalelei and Myles Murphy should be next.”