Clowney's Recruitment, and its microscope

Very interesting read by FoxSports' Thayer Evans on The Pursuit of Jadeveon Clowney (h/t Year2). The nation's top prospect committed to South Carolina yesterday and gave Evans nearly full access the last month or so of recruiting. He has some interesting things to say about coaches like Spurrier, Dabo Swinney and Saban. 


I got a chuckle from this part:

In early December, Saban made his home visit with Clowney. The town was abuzz, with vehicles slowly streaming by Clowney’s mother’s house in hopes of catching a glimpse of the legendary coach. Inside, Clowney wasn’t that impressed.

“I don’t see no big deal like everybody else,” he said later. “They’d say, ‘He’s the king of all of football.’ The guy ain’t nothing but 5-5. He’s a short guy. Everybody’s going crazy on Nick Saban.”

During the visit, Saban touted Alabama’s graduation rate, its success in sending players to the NFL and playing Clowney at both defensive end and outside linebacker. Clowney and his family could hardly get a word in.

“Nick Saban’s going to take over and talk,” Clowney said. “He talked the whole time he was there. I was dozing off. He can talk. A lot. He talked for a whole straight hour.”

It sounds like towards the end Clowney and his mom had come down on different sides of the fence. She preferred Clemson, while he obviously chose the campus closer to home.

“I really like Clemson,” Josenna Clowney said two days before her son’s announcement. “I think that’s the best place for him.

“I’m not disappointed he’s going to South Carolina. I need to make sure he knows that there’s a lot of stuff to get into and he don’t need to be down there fooling around.”

In other words, stay out of The Whitney, away from Stephen Garcia as well as Olympic swimmers with bongs. 

Evan's piece is an interesting look at recruiting as a whole. It comes to an awkward end (referring to the story, not the recruitment), but is thick with quotes, especially from Clowney himself. I would've liked to have read more about the kid's learning disability that's recently come to light as well as more about the everyday interference of phone calls and coaches' visits that is suggested but not explored to much depth. 


I doubt the article sheds any unsuspecting light in the recruiting world, but at least the nation's top kid didn't seem to make his final selection based on the coeds alone. Clemson runs a 3-4. Clowney is pretty upfront about his fear of possibly getting misplaced and his preference to play solely as a pass rusher.


Regardless, our new Coach Friend faces a daunting task the next three seasons trying to stop Jadeveon Clowney.