Humphries Commits To Clemson

On April 16th Tigerillustrated.com introduced Barry Humphries to the recruiting world. Today we also first report his verbal commitment to recruiter and linebackers coach David Blackwell and the Clemson Tigers. The 6-foot-3, 291-pound two-way lineman from Belton-Honea Path committed to Clemson this afternoon in the presence of his parents while in a meeting with Blackwell and head coach Tommy Bowden during an unofficial visit to Clemson. Humphries is the state’s top rated offensive lineman prospect.

Back in mid April we unveiled a top notch lineman prospect from the upstate, a recruiting target who was sure to garner his share of pub as the May evaluation period approached. And indeed that happened, as a bevy of college coaches stopped by to scout him over the last few weeks, noticing his strength, agility and athleticism, attributes that make him one of the South’s more heralded linemen.

Humphries carries a bench press max of 405 pounds, and a squat max of 575. He’s also equally as dominant in the classroom, since he holds a 3.1 GPA with a 22 on the ACT.

Clemson’s offer is his sixth, as he has already received full rides from North Carolina, Maryland, Wake Forest, Vanderbilt and Marshall. Tennessee, according to Belton-Honea Path head coach Wayne Greene, has been close to offering.

"We had a good meeting with Coach Bowden and Coach Blackwell. Barry dressed up in a nice dress shirt, kaki pants, and we went to meet Coach Bowden and Coach Blackwell in Mr. Bowden's office. We talked about some housing, academics, just where he fits in and we've gotten all of that squared away. We're excited for Barry," said Barry Humphries Sr. Monday afternoon from his cell phone. "We're touring the campus right now and we're about to go see the weight room. I want Barry to see some of the weight lifting records he'll have to break."

Humphries will not be attending any other camps this summer, outside of Clemson. Clemson is expected to be his only official visit, as well.

"There's not going to be any other official visits or camp visits. We're committed to Clemson and they're committed to us. When Coach Bowden told Barry that he needed him, we told Coach Bowden that we needed him and Clemson, too, so it was over then. That's when we told him we were committed."

“Know when to fold them; Know when to hold them.” Yesterday a couple of posters (NorthStateTiger & quozzel) on the pressbox message board began talking about early commitments, wondering which player/prospect would be the first to commit to Clemson. We knew Humphries was falling for Clemson today, but were not in a position to release it. In fact, this story had been privately brewing for over two weeks, though it was something, for obvious reasons, Tigerillustrated.com kept on the down-low. Even as we went to press for June’s issue of Tiger Illustrated (the magazine) last Monday, May 17th, we went ahead and listed Humphries as a Clemson commitment in our “On the board” feature because we knew his offer and commitment were imminent where it pertained to the pre-Memorial Day timeframe.

Tigerillustrated.com's Top Five In-state O-linemen (in order)

1. Barry Humphries (6-3, 291, 4.96) Belton-Honea Path

2. Thomas Austin (6-4, 271, 5.1) Camden

3. Jamarcus Grant (6-5, 321, 5.1) Mullins

4. Devon Dawson (6-3, 295, 5.0) Greer

5. Derrick Elliott (6-5, 300, 5.1) Loris

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