Clemson bringing in future athletes

By Robert Rousseau  |   Tuesday, May 05, 2009  |  Comments( 0 )

Clemson Tigers
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Clemson Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney likes athletes with a variety of talents. Not exactly earth-shattering news, is it? That said, perhaps watching C.J. Spiller play over time has made him realize just how important special athletes with multiple skill sets can be. Why would someone come to that conclusion? For one, it appears that Swinney and his staff have already managed to convince two very good athletes with the ability to play multiple positions to verbally commit to play for the Tigers in 2010. Here's the skinny on these two four-star prospects.

Joe Craig: Let's consider the things that you can do on offense to gain statistics. First, you can pass the ball; second, you can rush it; third, you can catch passes.

Well, Craig did all three as a junior at Gaffney High School in 2008.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Craig is a mover and a shaker who possesses 4.4 speed and a 34-inch vertical leap. By itself, that's good. But then when you add in the 408 yards and seven touchdowns he put up running the ball, the 263 yards he amassed passing and the 228 yards and three scores as a receiver, you begin to realize the breadth of his talent.

Craig is clearly a multidimensional talent.

DeAndre Hopkins: From D.W. Daniel High School, the 6-2, 170-pound Hopkins (listed as an "athlete") has 4.55 speed. In high school, Hopkins did tremendous damage on defense, racking up a combined 23 interceptions over the past two seasons combined. But that's not where it ends for Hopkins. You see, he also totaled 29 catches for 539 yards and eight touchdowns on offense.

Moreover, he's a terrific basketball player, having averaged 22 points per game last season while gaining interest from Division 1 teams in that sport as well.

In the end, Swinney is clearly doing a good job of bringing in players capable of helping his team on multiple fronts. The importance of that cannot be overstated.
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About Robert Rousseau

Robert Rousseau is a sports writer that has been published in a variety of print and online venues. He’s been writing for RealFootball365.com for almost three years now. When Rousseau isn’t writing about college football he tends to be penning mixed martial arts pieces for MMAFighting.com or ...
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