Two talented teammates commit to Clemson for Tigers’ 2022 football class
Clemson added two top defensive talents for the Class of 2022 when a pair of IMG Academy teammates committed Saturday to the Tigers.
Safety Keon Sabb and cornerback Daylen Everette both made the call for Dabo Swinney’s football team. Both ranked as Top 60 national prospects in the 247Sports Composite that factors in all networks.
Sabb announced his commitment to the Tigers in a 4 p.m. Saturday interview on CBS Sports HQ.
“They’re a national championship team,” Sabb said after making his choice. “Swinney built a really good relationship with me. I had a really, really good time down there. We went to his house. We had a good time. Me and my family feel like home.”
Sabb, who has also seen time as a wide receiver, originally posted his top six on Twitter on June 1, which included the Tigers, Oregon, Penn State, Georgia, Texas A&M and LSU, but swapped out Oregon for Michigan in his most recent list of finalists. The rising senior took an unofficial visit to Clemson on June 11, attending the Elite Retreat, with official visits to Penn State and Georgia the weeks before and after, respectively.
During the recruiting process, Clemson defensive coordinator Brent Venables and safeties coach Mickey Conn laid out their plans for him. He was intrigued with what they told him.
“I got a couple of comparisons to Isiah Simmons, that they would utilize me in that type of way,” Sabb said. “They say I can cover the field pretty well, really fast. I can cover a lot of space.”
Sabb, whose main position is safety but is also the nation’s top-rated athlete and third-best overall player in Florida, transferred to IMG in February for his senior season after spending his junior year at Williamstown High School New Jersey. According to NJ.com, he was credited with 19 tackles over six games with the Braves.
“(Sabb) has the looks of someone that will eventually make an impact on the back end of Power 5 defense, but could also emerge as more of a box player and potentially even a hybrid linebacker that excels in coverage if body continues to fill out,” 247Sports southeast recruiting analyst Andrew Ivins said. “(He) should get more explosive once training with a college strength coach and is likely to get ... more comfortable working on the defensive side of the ball once focus shifts completely towards making stops.”
An hour later Saturday, the Tigers added another piece to its defense when Everette committed. He played his first season with the IMG program in 2020 after Virginia canceled the fall football season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. It was a successful one with the Ascenders (8-0) winning a national championship.
Everette, a four-star recruit and the fourth-ranked cornerback in the class, chose Clemson over Florida State, Georgia, North Carolina and Oregon. He’s drawn comparisons to Marlon Humphrey of the Baltimore Ravens.
“(Everette is an) ideal corner size with impressive strength already,” 247Sports national recruiting analyst Brian Dohn said. “Highly productive player (11 INTs as sophomore) with excellent ball skills. … Must continue to develop all aspects of game. Multi-year starter at Top 15 program. Day 3 NFL draft potential.”
Their decisions give Clemson 10 verbal commitment for this class. Everette and Sabb are the No. 1 and No. 3 ranked Tigers commitments, respectively. The versatile defenders join cornerback Toriano Pride, safety Sherrod Covil and defensive lineman Jihaad Campbell to make four defensive commits so far.
The Clemson class overall ranks No. 13 nationally and second in the ACC.
Phil Kornblut contributed to this report.
This story was originally published July 17, 2021 at 4:15 PM.
