Clemson recruiting: Class of 2008

By Marc Hudgens  |   Thursday, June 21, 2007  |  Comments( 14 )

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Tommy Bowden's era at Clemson hasn't been the greatest, but there are certain things he deserves credit for.

First, unlike his two predecessors, he has a knack for knocking off arguably Clemson's biggest conference nemesis, Florida State, on a regular basis. Given how the Seminoles had the Atlantic Coast Conference locked up for about a decade since their debut, to be able to beat the elite program and do so often is, as Martha Stewart would put it, a very good thing.

The second thing Bowden is pretty good at is recruiting. The talent level coming into the school has been on the increase for a few years now, and the high school class of 2008 appears to be keeping that trend alive and well.

According to TigerIllustrated.com, a sub-site of college recruiting network Rivals.com, Clemson has verbal commitments from the following:

-DaQuan Bowers: five-star, No. 1 DE in the nation from Bamberg, S.C.
-A.J. Harmon: four-star, No. 1 OL in the nation from Louisville, Ga.
-Andre Ellington: four-star, No. 4 RB in the nation from Moncks Corner, S.C.
-Spencer Benton: two-star, No. 9 K in the nation from Myrtle Beach, S.C.
-Marquan Jones: four-star WR from Blythewood, S.C.
-Kyle Parker: three-star, No. 13 QB in the nation from Jacksonville, Fla.
-Jon Richt: three-star QB from Athens, Ga.
-Xavier Brewer: three-star CB from Jacksonville, Fla.
-Matt Sanders: three-star OL from Crestview, Fla.
-Matt Skinner: two-star ATH from Jacksonville.
-Dawson Zimmerman: K from Snellville, Ga.

There also appears to be interest from others as well. Three of them are:

-R.J. Mattes: four-star OT from Concord, N.C. In addition to Clemson his school choices currently are Duke, Louisville, Miami, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia, Virginia Tech and Wake Forest.

-Jerrell Harris: four-star, seventh-ranked OLB in the nation from Gadsden, Ala. Aside from Clemson, his school choices are numerous. Alabama, Auburn, Florida, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Kentucky, LSU, Louisville, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Nebraska, Southern California, and Tennessee are all on Harris' list.

-Brandon Thompson: four-star, sixth-ranked DT in the nation from Thomasville, Ga. In addition to Clemson his school choices are Florida, Florida State, Georgia, Georgia Tech, Alabama, Miami, and LSU.

Quick history lesson: The 2006 class included such stars from last year as Crezdon Butler, Ricky Sapp, and one of the best backs in the nation, C.J. Spiller. The incoming 2007 class -- which will be getting its first taste of college football in under three months -- includes promising ballers such as Kourtnei Brown, Marcus Gilchrist, Markish Jones, Xavier Dye, DeAndre McDaniel (who tore it up in the spring game) and most notably four-star, fifth-ranked dual-threat quarterback Willy Korn, who, outside of some extreme circumstance, will most definitely get significant playing time this season.

Football season is far from starting, much less ended, and the Tigers have already landed some solid verbals for 2008. This is indeed a testament to the hard work that Bowden and his staff put in. Certainly this matters little to many because signing day next February is when it all really counts. But to get this level of interest this early is very promising, and Tiger fans should be very pleased.

But to solidify these players' interest, and even to attract more top players, Bowden must produce. Whether it's more wins than last year (which means at least nine regular-season victories with no midseason implosion) or play for the ACC title in Jacksonville. Because it only stands to reason that accompanying an ever-increasing level of talent is increasingly positive results in the win-loss column. And Bowden continues to bring in solid talent year in and year out.
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About Marc Hudgens

Marc Hudgens has been with RealFootball365 since 2007, covering college football, specifically Clemson and Oregon. He also writes for SouthernPigskin.com covering the ACC. He enjoys the acidic wit of Hunter S. Thompson, is a freelance graphic designer and has written several screenplays. He...
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