By Will Vandervort
One of Jeff Scott’s favorite things to do when he was growing up was to go fishing.
He remembers how he had choices to go fish in a pond where he could catch a bunch of small fish or could go over to another pond where he might not catch as many, but the ones he caught were always really big.
“I was always the guy that liked to go to that pond and have a chance to catch those big ones,” Scott said. “Knowing you are going to get some big ones on the hook and maybe lose them, but maybe having the opportunity to catch some big ones, too.”
Scott has that same mentality as the recruiting coordinator for Clemson, and on Wednesday he helped reel in a class that ranked No. 13 overall on ESPN’s top 25 recruiting rankings. In the big pond of recruiting, Scott’s hook brought in 15 big fish and one trophy fish for a class that signed 23 players overall.
The trophy fish was five-star defensive back Mackensie Alexander, who chose Clemson over Auburn and Mississippi State. Besides Alexander, the Tigers also got letters-of-intent (LOI) from four-star offensive guard Tyrone Crowder and four-star safety Adrian Baker on Wednesday, giving Clemson a strong close to what was once again considered a strong class.
In all, the Tigers inked 15 four-star players. Wednesday’s National Signing Day marked the third straight year Clemson landed a Top 15 class in the recruiting wars.
“Coach (Dabo) Swinney and the staff have done a great job along with the administration of giving us the opportunity to where we can compete and recruit for the top players in the country,” Scott said. “Whenever you get in that whelm, you are not going to get them all. There are some other very strong programs.
“I know myself, being involved with the university as a player back in 1999, and just over the last 14 years, that’s one change that I have seen. Clemson now has the opportunity and has shown it can be successful going toe-to-toe with some of the top programs in the country from a recruiting perspective. When you do that, you are going to get your share, but you are also going to lose some. Obviously, every year there are some guys that you want, but like Coach Swinney said, we are awfully excited about the guys that choose to come to Clemson.”
Clemson came into National Signing Day with four players it really was not sure of what they were going to do. By mid-morning, Baker decided he was coming to Clemson over Oklahoma, and faxed in his LOI. Shortly thereafter, Korrin Wiggins, a three-star safety from Durham, NC, changed his mind about attending North Carolina and surprised everyone when he announced his decision to attend Clemson.
Then came Alexander. For much of the last two weeks the 5-11, 175-pound cornerback had been quiet about where he wanted to go and was considered by some to be a wild card. But in the last several days leading up to signing day, Alexander-to-Clemson gained momentum and Wednesday he confirmed it when he announced he was attending Clemson University on ESPNU.
In no real surprise after that, Crowder announced he planned to attend Clemson in the ESPNU studios in Charlotte, NC.
“We are ridiculously blessed here at Clemson,” Swinney said. “I do not spend any time worrying about who we don’t get. I’m thankful for the ones that we don’t get. We just signed 23 guys and if all these guys signed today, (the fans) would be having a street party out there right now.
“There is a difference between need and greed. Sometimes we all get a little greedy and you want to focus on what we don’t have and I just have never been that way. I’m going to focus on what we do have because that is what you control.
“And we have a Top 15 class coming to join an already very, very talented football team.”
And with guys like Alexander joining, Clemson is in a great position to start fishing in a different kind of pond.
“All of those guys are talking about the SEC right now, and it is what it is,” Alexander said. “We are No. 4 in the country, and we are going to win the National Title.”