Clemson has quiet, but successful 2012 national signing day

CLEMSON — One year ago, Clemson made perhaps America’s biggest splash on national signing day. Dabo Swinney and the Tigers closed with a fury, getting last-minute commitments from a pair of five-star linebackers in Stephone Anthony and Tony Steward, cementing a top-10 class that also included five-star prospects in wide receiver Sammy Watkins and tailback Mike Bellamy.

Wednesday was much quieter, but not necessarily in a bad way. The Tigers gained only one new signee – Greensboro, N.C., defensive tackle D.J. Reader, who picked CU over Maryland – but announced a 20-member class that was ranked No.7 nationally by ESPN and in the top 20 by three other major recruiting services.

“We’re excited about what we got done today,” Clemson coach Dabo Swinney said. “Today was another step towards becoming the type of program we want to have. We got better today. We were trying to meet our needs, and your needs change as you address them year-to-year. But we met all of our needs.”

This time, virtually all of the work was done early. Swinney’s staff just had to wait for the signed national letters of intent to arrive.

“Not a lot of drama,” Swinney said. “I’ll take this every single year. Most of the guys we recruited all year made their decision early, and were in the boat, so to speak. That removed anxiety from signing day, and we had eight mid-year enrollees join the program. I’m glad we didn’t have to sit around and wait on faxes.”

As of 5 p.m., Clemson had the nation’s No.7 class per ESPN.com, No.13 per Rivals.com, No.16 per Scout.com and No.19 per 247sports.com.

One of the class’s biggest focus came in the trenches. Clemson signed four offensive linemen and six defensive linemen. The Tigers lost three starters on each side of the ball from the 2011 ACC champions.

Clemson signed nine four-star players, per Rivals.com rankings: Virginia offensive lineman Isaiah Battle, Tallahassee, Fla., defensive back Travis Blanks, Jonesboro, Ark., tailback Zac Brooks, Greer defensive tackle Kevin Dodd, Fairfax defensive back Ronald Geohaghan, Charlotte wide receiver Germone Hopper, Buffalo, N.Y., quarterback Chad Kelly, D.W. Daniel defensive end Shaq Lawson and Forest City, N.C. defensive tackle Carlos Watkins are all four-star prospects.

D.J. Reader, Daniel connection

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Four of those players – Battle, Blanks, Brooks and Dodd – are already on campus as early enrollees who will go through spring practice.

“The fact that they’re here gives them an opportunity,” Swinney said. “They can go through the offseason program and go through spring and get the installation at a pace you can grasp, then go through everything all summer. When a normal freshman shows up in July, he’s starting from scratch.”

Kelly is the nephew of NFL Hall of Fame quarterback Jim Kelly; he is rated by Rivals.com as the nation’s No.4 dual-threat quarterback. He made waves by saying on Twitter that he was “coming in to play,” and telling backups, “that’s why you’re sitting on the bench,” leading backup Cole Stoudt to fire back at him.

Swinney said he “has his arms around the situation.”

“He needs to come ready to play,” Swinney said. “That’s what we tell all of our freshmen – you’d like them to redshirt and grow up but you don’t know what’s going to happen. … He’s going to show up and compete to be the best guy. That makes everyone better.”

Another four-star player, Woodruff offensive lineman Javarius Leamon, didn’t sign Wednesday; he is expected to be placed in prep school or sign with South Carolina State.

Mobile, Ala., defensive end JaMichael Winston took an official visit to Clemson two weeks ago, but the three-star prospect stuck with his commitment to Arkansas. Four-star Miami linebacker Reggie Northrup was the Tigers’ final official visitor, but ultimately chose Florida State. Columbus, Ga., defensive end Kenderius Whitehead was believed to be flirting with Clemson, but stayed with his original commitment of N.C. State.

Clemson got what is expected to be its last signee of the day when Reader picked the Tigers over Atlantic Division rival Maryland. He is rated as the No.19 offensive guard in America and No.20 player in North Carolina by Rivals.com, and the No.20 offensive guard nationally by Rivals.com. He is rated by ESPN.com as the nation’s No.59 offensive guard. As a defensive tackle, he had 50 tackles, seven tackles for loss and five sacks as a senior. He plans to play both baseball and football in college, and has a 90 MPH-plus fastball as a pitcher and first baseman.

Swinney thanked baseball coach Jack Leggett for his help in landing Reader, too.

“I’m excited to see him,” Swinney said. “I want to see 300 pounds come off the mound at 93 MPH. He’s a raw player in both sports but he has a lot of talent and a ton of upside. He’s coming to a place where he’ll get coached up and pushed, and have the opportunity to go to a BCS bowl game and a College World Series. Not many programs can say that.

“Kyle Parker (a dual-sport athlete) took his team to a (Atlantic) Division title and a World Series appearance. Hopefully we can have the same kind of success with D.J.”