Clemson pledge ends unusual tale

Texas high school star pursued Clemson, and his verbal commitment anchors the Tigers’ Class of 2009

By PAUL STRELOW - pstrelow@thestate.com

CLEMSON — Everything is bigger in Texas - except, apparently, Clemson football commitment Craig Loston.

At the Nike Combine in Houston last weekend, Loston said event officials somehow measured his height at 5-foot-11.

Within the previous three months, Loston had measured 6-2 in socks at combines put on by both prominent online recruiting services.

“I don’t have a clue how that can happen,” Loston said with a laugh laughing.

The same has been said for how one of the Heartland’s prized prospects wound up committing to a program last week that barely recruits the region.

His answer is just as unusual.

Loston, a safety rated as the nation’s No. 20 overall prospect for the 2009 class by Rivals.com, pursued Clemson, not the other way around.

A close friend and Eisenhower High School teammate, Derlin Martin, is a Tigers fan. With that familiarity, Loston watched last season’s opener against Florida State, which featured former teammate Mister Alexander, a Seminoles reserve safety.

Loston enjoyed Clemson’s defensive style and, later in the fall, sought to convey his interest through a local friend in the Rivals.com network.

He was hardly lacking for attention.

Georgia, Oklahoma and Florida are among the programs who have offered him a scholarshiphis numerous national offers. Texas, which annually boasts one ofamong the nation’s top recruiting classes, has not offered the hard-hitting 208-pounder because of Loston’s known lack of interest, said his former coach, Darryl Phipps.

Loston and his mother attended the Tigers’ spring game April 12 and revealed his commitment publicly last week.

He reportedly chose Clemson over LSU - where his cousin, touted quarterback Russell Shepard, has committed - but Loston never gave the other Tigers serious consideration.

Loston’s former coach, Darryl Phipps, said Loston forged a tight bond with Clemson’s most recent high-profile signee, defensive end Da’Quan Bowers, at January’s Under Armour/ESPN All-Star game while accompanying his best friend, defensive end Roderick Davis.

“I think Craig did all his homework, looked at all his options and liked what Clemson had to offer,” said Phipps said, adding the fact that the Tigers were helped by the fact they are losing a pair of senior, starting safeties helped their cause.

The question now becomes whether the Tigers can keep Lostonhim in the fold before enrolling he enrolls in January, as planned.

Loston committed to Texas A&M as a sophomore in January 2007, pledging along with Davis, a member of the Aggies’ latest class.

However, Loston dropped his commitment in the fall when Texas A&M coach Dennis Franchione was discovered to be e-mailing insider team information to subscribers for a lofty fee, an incident that expedited Franchione’s departure in November.

The peculiarity of his Clemson interest, combined with the fact he has changed his mind before, leads to the natural conclusion that his recruiting saga is far from over.

Loston has gathered as much from the increase in cell-phone calls from other suitors, with Southern California heading the charge on volume alone, he said.

“People are still on me,” Loston said. “But I’m not answering my phone unless it’s a local or 864 area code. “The only thing that would change my mind is if something like (the Texas A&M situation) happened at Clemson.”

Phipps agreed, portraying loyalty as the strongest trait for the person locals know as “Poppa.”

Loston picked up his popular nickname as small boy.

The third child among three sisters, Loston’s mother contended that when she finally had a son, she would dress him in an array of hats.

When it came to fruition, family members said he resembled an old man in those hats, and the nickname stuck.

Clemson only can hope “Poppa” also withstands the test of time to join its next crop of newcomers.

“He’s got dynamite in his hip pockets,” Phipps said. “He’s going to run the alley and put a hit on people. If he’s blessed to avoid injuries, he has the ability to play on Sundays someday.”