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A day after landing the nation's No. 1 center in Ryan Linthicum of Damascus (MD), Clemson struck gold again on Tuesday, this time in landing a verbal commitment from Marcus Tate of Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.
Tate, a four-star prospect by Rivals.com, is billed by the network as the nation's No. 17-ranked offensive tackle. Rivals.com also ranks Tate 17th overall regardless of position in the state of Florida and 151st nationally overall regardless of position among juniors.
Tate picked the Tigers after mulling nearly two-dozen offers, including Alabama, Florida, Florida State, Auburn, LSU, Michigan, Penn State, Texas A&M and Tennessee among numerous others.
Two weeks ago Tigerillustrated.com told subscribers Tate would be rendering a decision soon.
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The lineman (6-5, 319) has been on the radar since Tennessee and a few others offered during his high school freshman season. Miami offered soon thereafter, then LSU. Alabama joined in after he camped the next summer, followed by UGA. Florida, Florida State and Ohio State all hopped on this year as well.
Clemson conveyed an offer in June when Tate and his parents visited during the Dabo Swinney Camp, although he did not compete. Tate returned for this month's Texas A&M game with his grandfather and father, the latter of whom lives in Atlanta.
The lineman released a top 10 in July comprised of Miami, Florida, Clemson, Alabama, Georgia, LSU, Ohio State, Auburn, Georgia Tech and Oregon. After his latest visit, we noted that Tate did not have visits to other schools arranged, though he told us earlier this week he planned to come back for another Clemson game this fall.
“I’m big on family atmosphere, and they sell that like no other," Tate told us recently. "They’re real about it, and I like that. When they talk to me, they don’t try to sugarcoat things, and I appreciate that as well.”
The four-star becomes the fifth commitment for Clemson's 2021 recruiting class, joining Linthicum, four-star (WR) Dacari Collins of Powder Springs (Ga.), four-star (RB) Phil Mafah of Loganville (Ga.) and high three-star (LB) Jeremiah Trotter Jr. of Philadelphia (Pa.), son of former NFL linebacker Jeremiah Trotter. Trotter is expected to be bumped to four stars later this fall according to Rivals.com regional analyst Adam Friedman.
Said Rivals.com Florida analyst Rob Cassidy on Tuesday: "Obviously, whatever happened during the Texas A&M visit paid off because Tate's timetable was accelerated by it.
"This is a huge get for the Tigers. Clemson continues to do whatever it wants in recruiting in the state of Florida."
It should be reiterated that Clemson has been at or near the top of the list for Lexington (Ky.) 2021 four-star offensive lineman Jager Burton for months. Burton is of course a longtime friend and teammate of Clemson four-star offensive line commit Walker Parks.
Tigerillustrated.com continues to project Clemson's staff will take no less than three offensive linemen in its 2021 recruiting class, possibly four.
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