Ohio State star still close with Clemson assistant

Former five-star recruit Raekwon McMillan was down to Ohio State, Clemson and Alabama in the recruiting process before choosing the Buckeyes.

He was mainly recruited for Clemson by assistant Jeff Scott. Even though McMillan chose to go elsewhere, he has a strong with Clemson’s co-offensive coordinator.

“One of the best relationships that I built when I was getting recruited was with coach Jeff Scott,” McMillan said Tuesday. “Certain circumstances made me not go to Clemson, but he never gave me a reason not to like Clemson, not to like the university. Him and his wife, they do an incredible job of recruiting guys to Clemson and making them believe that all their dreams can be fulfilled there.”

Scott occasionally checks in on McMillan, including on his birthday and around Christmas.

McMillan said that says a lot about Scott.

“If I make a decision for another school and you’re still checking up on me, that means when I was going through the process and getting to know you, everything that I was thinking was true,” McMillan said. “Hats off to coach Scott. He’s just an incredible guy.”

EYING A WEAKNESS

Clemson quarterback Deshaun Watson has thrown 15 interceptions in 13 games this season, and Ohio State safety Malik Hooker sees a trend.

“I definitely noticed that a lot of teams played a lot of zone and he really couldn’t read the whole defense,” Hooker said.

In Watson’s first eight games against Power 5 teams he threw 11 interceptions, but in the past three games he threw two.

Hooker believes Watson can improve.

“He’s capable of getting back into the lab and fixing what he messed up on,” Hooker said.

WHAT IF?

Ohio State recruited Watson hard even after he committed to Clemson, and the Georgia native considered visiting Ohio State but was unable to because he had a playoff basketball game.

“That was my second choice. If I wouldn’t have came to Clemson, I would probably be at either Ohio State or Auburn,” Watson said.

He added while he had conversations with other schools, he was always stuck on Clemson.

“I committed to Clemson. I stayed true to my word. I felt comfortable with the coaching staff, the environment, the university. It was close to home. My mom was going to be able to see every game. I just felt comfortable at Clemson,” he said.

This story was originally published December 28, 2016 at 7:13 PM with the headline "Ohio State star still close with Clemson assistant."