Two Clemson football recruits announcing decisions Friday. Where do the Tigers stand?
Amid a 2023 recruiting tear, Clemson football is losing momentum with two four-star targets announcing Friday, according to expert predictions on various sites.
Four-star Alabama running back Jeremiah Cobb and four-star North Carolina wide receiver Christian Hamilton had both named Clemson — which has the nation’s fourth best 2023 recruiting class — a finalist heading into their pre-holiday decisions.
But experts at 247Sports, Rivals and On3 Sports are now overwhelmingly predicting that both recruits will stay in state: Cobb at Auburn and Hamilton at UNC.
And if Cobb picks the Tigers and Hamilton picks the Tar Heels, Clemson may need to restock its board for a class that, despite lots of defensive depth, currently has no running back commits and one wide receiver commit.
Cobb, who plays at Montgomery Catholic Prep and ranks as the nation’s No. 8 running back, officially visited Clemson the first weekend of June before visiting Auburn and Tennessee.
Despite the Tigers’ all-in push on Cobb, their top running back target since the spring, he holds five 247Sports Crystal Ball predictions to choose Auburn.
Three of those were filed this week.
Rivals and On3 Sports have also deemed Bryan Harsin’s Tigers the team to beat for No. 207 overall recruit Cobb, who rushed for 2,163 yards and 30 touchdowns as a junior while adding 561 yards and eight more touchdowns as a receiver.
If Cobb chooses Auburn, Clemson could turn to four-star Florida running back Christopher Johnson Jr. Clemson is yet to offer the Fort Lauderdale speedster but has been showing interest since the spring.
As of now, in-state program Miami is widely viewed as Johnson’s leader.
As for Hamilton, who announces his commitment Friday around 6:30 p.m.: his fading away from Clemson (and his other two announced finalists, Penn State and South Carolina) is less of a surprise, considering Hamilton’s only summer official visit was to Mack Brown’s UNC program.
The shifty Hickory Ridge High wideout, who had 916 yards and 12 touchdowns last year, ranks as the nation’s No. 30 receiver and No. 210 overall recruit. The Tigers were a late contender who offered Hamilton a scholarship in December and hosted him for a March junior day visit. He also had visited Clemson for a 2021 home game.
Hamilton has picked up three Crystal Ball predictions for UNC this week. Rivals and On3 Sports also favor the Tar Heels, who proved a worthy recruiting foe to Clemson in the 2022 cycle but are struggling to capture that magic in 2023.
Clemson has one 2023 receiver commit to date: Texas four-star recruit Noble Johnson, one of a record 12 players to choose the Tigers this month.
Four-star Florida recruit Nathaniel Joseph had been committed to Clemson since September 2021 before decommitting in mid-June, writing on Twitter that “some things took place that me and my family didn’t like.”
Joseph has since committed to Miami.
If Hamilton commits to UNC, Clemson would be down to one uncommitted receiver target with an offer: four-star Florida receiver Tyler Williams, who is trending toward Georgia over Clemson, South Carolina and Texas A&M.
A potential future target at the receiver position is three-star Georgia recruit Cayden Lee, who at 5-foot-11 fits the same slot profile as Joseph and Hamilton.
Lee doesn’t have an offer but attended camp at Clemson last summer and attended the Tigers’ 2021 season opener against Georgia.
Clemson is up to 15 verbal commits in the class of 2023 — with 14 ranking as four-star prospects or higher — after four-star Texas interior offensive lineman and No. 72 overall recruit Harris Sewell chose the Tigers on Wednesday over Alabama, Oklahoma, Texas and Texas A&M.
After Sewell’s pledge, the Tigers only trail No. 1 Ohio State, No. 2 Notre Dame and No. 3 Texas in 247Sports’ continuously updated team rankings. They’re 10 spots ahead of the ACC’s next team (No. 14 Louisville).
