PARADISE VALLEY, Ariz. — The Clemson Insider rounds up the latest recruiting news and notes surrounding the Tigers:

Singleton commits. Paramus (N.J.) Catholic four-star linebacker Drew Singleton committed to Michigan on Dec. 23. Though Clemson was Michigan’s top competition for Singleton, he was long considered a Wolverines lean. He was expected to take an official visit to Clemson in January, but took just two — to Michigan State on Dec. 2 and Michigan on Dec. 10 — prior to his commitment.

Clemson was always in the mix for his services after extending one of his first offers in April 2015, but Michigan was the heavy favorite down the stretch of his recruitment. Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh has left his recruiting footprint on the Paramus area in recent years and held a satellite camp there in June. Singleton’s team played its season opener in the Big House in September, and Singleton’s former teammate, Rashan Gary, committed to Michigan over Clemson in February. Those factors proved to work in Michigan’s favor.

Mckinney set to commit. Roswell (Ga.) four-star safety Xavier McKinney is set to announce his commitment at the Under Armour All-America Game on Jan. 1 at Camping World Stadium in Orlando, Fla. After de-committing from Alabama in July, McKinney took official visits to Florida, Clemson, Ohio State, Georgia and Alabama this fall. His Clemson official occurred in November for the Pittsburgh game.

Clemson’s 2017 commits have worked hard to make McKinney feel at home in Clemson, and they feel highly confident about the Tigers’ chances of landing the standout DB over his other finalists, Alabama and Georgia. So should Clemson fans.

Richardson de-commits. Two days before Christmas, Trezevant (Tenn.) four-star running back Cordarrian Richardson announced his decision to de-commit from Clemson and reopen his recruitment after pledging to the Tigers back in March. His decision came as a surprise to many, but not Clemson’s coaching staff.

As we reported shortly after Richardson’s announcement, Clemson’s coaching staff was prepared for the possibility. It was a “difficult situation” for Richardson, and some close to him in the class understand why he made the choice.

Moving forward, Clemson still plans to sign a running back in the current cycle. The staff has identified candidates to fill that void, including ones currently committed to other schools, and will try to make a late push to do so in the coming weeks before signing day.

2018 class has lofty potential. Clemson of course landed the nation’s top 2018 prospect in Cartersville (Ga.) five-star quarterback Trevor Lawrence a couple of weeks ago, and the Tigers have the chance to add perhaps an unprecedented level of talent around him.

Clemson is in the top group of schools for three other top-10 prospects — Florence (S.C.) five-star defensive end Xavier Thomas, Fairfield (Ohio) five-star offensive tackle Jackson Carman and Laurinburg (N.C.) five-star running back Zamir White. Furthermore, the Tigers are in a good position with other elite prospects such as Clemmons (N.C.) five-star defensive end K.J. Henry and Marietta (Ga.) five-star cornerback Derrik Allen.

Allen and Carman both included Clemson in a list of their top 10 schools this month, while White is expected to release his top four soon. Expect Clemson to make the cut for him, as well.

With Lawrence on board and a number of other top 2018 recruits heavily considering Clemson, the future of the 2018 class and Clemson football continues to look very bright.