Clemson football picks up 11th commitment of June. Which 2023 recruit could be next?
A tweak to coach Dabo Swinney’s policy against summer official visits has paid dividends for Clemson football, which has spent most of June racking up verbal commitments.
On Wednesday night, four-star Georgia defensive lineman Stephiylan Green, the nation’s No. 212 overall recruit, became the 11th class of 2023 prospect to commit to the Tigers in June.
Clemson’s 10 previous June commits were already a single-month record for the program under Swinney. And it’s no coincidence that many of those pledges were on campus for the Tigers’ first big summer official visit weekend, which ran June 3-5 and featured around 30 blue-chippers.
Until this year, the Tigers under Swinney only allowed official visits — those trips fully paid for by the university — starting in the fall. The NCAA has allowed for spring-summer official visits since 2018.
Add in its two prior commitments, and Clemson has the ACC’s No. 1 recruiting class and nation’s No. 3 recruiting class as of Wednesday, per the 247Sports Composite, trailing only Notre Dame (No. 1) and Ohio State (No. 2).
The 14-man group includes five-star Alabama quarterback Christopher Vizzina and 11 four-star recruits.
As for who might be recruit No. 15? Here’s a list of five uncommitted players, including two with announcements scheduled for early July, worth monitoring for Clemson.
Peter Woods
5-star DL; 6-foot-4, 265 pounds; Thompson (Ala.) High School
Venturing into Alabama and coaxing an elite defensive tackle away from Nick Saban and company is easier said than done. But the Tigers are still putting up a fight for Peter Woods, who ranks as the country’s No. 3 defensive lineman and No. 23 overall recruit.
Defensive tackles coach Nick Eason has primary recruiting duties for Woods, who put Clemson among his top four schools in March and was the school’s top-ranked official visitor for the June 3-5 weekend. He had a career-high 92 tackles (including 26 for loss) and 11 sacks as a junior.
Woods is scheduled to publicly commit on July 8. His other three finalists are Alabama, Florida and Oklahoma.
Tyler Williams
4-star WR; 6-3, 180; Lakeland (Fla.) High School
Clemson got the first stop on No. 148 overall recruit Williams’ official visit tour earlier this month. After dropping in on the Tigers, the Florida wideout checked out Georgia and South Carolina; he’s also scheduled to visit Texas A&M. All four of those schools made his May top 10 list.
Williams, who’s being recruited by wide receivers coach Tyler Grisham, caught 12 passes for 366 yards and five touchdowns last season (good for 30.5 yards per catch). He’s a converted quarterback as well as a talented basketball player. Georgia holds an early 247Sports Crystal Ball pick.
Colton Vasek
4-star edge rusher; 6-6, 230; Westlake (Tex.) High School
No. 175 overall recruit Vasek is handling his recruitment traditionally. He announced his top five schools on June 2 and will have visited all five by month’s end. Clemson got the first crack at the towering edge rusher; Oklahoma, Texas, Oregon and Texas Tech (this weekend) have followed.
Vasek, also an accomplished track and field athlete, was a 2021 all-district selection as well as the defensive MVP of undefeated Westlake’s state championship with three sacks. The son of a former Texas defensive end, Vasek had 56 total tackles, 14 hurries and 10 sacks as a junior.
Christian Hamilton
4-star WR; 6-0, 175; Hickory Ridge (N.C.) High School
While Williams is an outside threat, Hamilton projects as more of a shifty slot receiver. He caught 46 passes for 916 yards and 12 scores last season and ranks as North Carolina’s No. 8 recruit, as well as the No. 30 receiver and No. 209 overall recruit nationally.
Clemson is a bit of a late contender, having offered Hamilton a scholarship last December and hosting him for a junior day in March. Still, the Tigers made his final four along with Penn State, South Carolina and UNC (which he’ll visit June 24). Hamilton is scheduled to commit on July 1.
Robert Billings
3-star safety; 6-1, 185; Milton (Ga.) High School
Clemson was a top eight school for Billings entering June. But after an official visit that included Swinney sinking a fadeaway jump shot over the defensive back (“Coach can hoop!” Billings tweeted), the Tigers have separated themselves from the rest of the pack.
Clemson currently holds three Crystal Ball projections to land Billings over fellow finalists Florida State, Michigan and Ole Miss. A commitment from Billings, the nation’s No. 55 safety, would continue a Peach State trend for the Tigers, who already have seven 2023 commits from Georgia.
This story was originally published June 23, 2022 at 6:00 AM.
