Take Two: Is five-star Quavaris Crouch a Clemson lock?
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 a local expert from the Rivals.com network of team sites.
THE STORYLINE
Quavaris Crouch took another visit to Clemson this past weekend and had another great time but other programs – especially Michigan – still cannot be counted out in his recruitment.
The five-star athlete and the former No. 1 prospect told Rivals.com Mid-Atlantic Recruiting Analyst Adam Friedman that his plan is to silently commit and then announce his decision at the U.S. Army All-American Bowl.
Recent visits to Michigan and Tennessee definitely went well. Other programs remain under serious consideration. But something Crouch told Friedman during an interview over the weekend stood out.
The Charlotte (N.C.) Harding University standout said that Clemson felt like home and that Michigan gave him the same feeling but that Clemson was “right in my backyard.”
Can any program beat the Tigers for Crouch’s commitment or will Clemson lock up another five-star prospect?
FIRST TAKE: PAUL STRELOW, TIGERILLUSTRATED.COM
“After each of the last two visits to Michigan and Tennessee, we have preached caution into reading too much into Crouch’s subsequent glowing reports of his trips. He’s a sponge. He retains as much from conversations with coaches as any prospect we’ve come across; what you read in his quotes are as close to verbatim for each staff’s talking points as possible. So it would be hypocritical not to suggest comparable temperance following the Clemson visit, too.
“I believe this trip affirmed why we’ve expressed it would be wise to hold the phone on his recruitment until the Clemson visit transpired. There are numerous factors working in the Tigers’ favor. Yet Crouch has shown to be a marathon and not a sprint, and Clemson still has to get to the finish line.”
SECOND TAKE: MIKE FARRELL, RIVALS.COM
“Michigan has a good chance but I still think geographically there are a lot of advantages for Clemson. He’s been there more, he’s more comfortable with the coaching staff and he seems to have been leaning there for a longer time.
“He was involved with Clemson much earlier than he was with Michigan. In the beginning, it was Clemson and Alabama, and now it’s Clemson and Michigan among others. Clemson is the constant in this battle so when that’s the case you have to lean toward them.”