Patience and its standard have paid off for Clemson with a big defensive line acquisition.
Clayton (N.C.) four-star defensive tackle Keshawn Stancil announced his commitment to Clemson on Saturday. He had been a projection to Clemson by Tigerillustrated.com.
BECOME A TIGERILLUSTRATED.com SUBSCRIBER!
Stancil (6-3, 260), ranked No. 200 by Rivals, picked the Tigers over Miami, Penn State, UGA and N.C. State.
Tennessee and LSU were finalists in the spring, and he also held offers from Florida State, South Carolina, UNC, Texas A&M, Ole Miss, Auburn and Florida among others.
Tigerillustrated.com issued its projection for Stancil to Clemson on Thursday.
But we began pointing the arrow for Stancil trending in the Tigers' direction in early April.
Clemson had not even offered yet, to the consternation of some outside observers.
The Tigers had brought him in as one of five defensive tackles for its Elite Retreat junior day in March, though. And as we underlined, what was important was that Nick Eason was recruiting him hard.
We documented that Stancil had certain checkpoints to meet in order for his offer to be formalized.
The fact that Clemson was selective in its pursuits and emphasized accountability and academics resonated strongly.
The offer would materialize in late May.
By that time, Stancil had already granted Miami an official visit for the date of Clemson's weekend.
So the Tigers finagled a date for later in the month. Stancil would be the only guest that weekend, and the individual attention certainly didn't hurt.
UGA logged his first official visit in mid-May, and Penn State followed the Miami trip. N.C. State then had the final at-bat.
But Clemson's track record for NFL development, along with program profile and Eason's relationship, carried the Tigers as the unofficial leader from the start of official visits through the finish.
Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on The West Zone message board!
Stancil becomes the 20th commitment for Clemson's top 10-ranked recruiting class and the third pledge from the state of North Carolina.
Tigerillustrated.com will of course have much more on Stancil, including behind-the-scenes intel on his recruitment, in our Monday Insider.
BECOME A TIGERILLUSTRATED.com SUBSCRIBER!
CLEMSON's VERBAL COMMITMENTS
1. (QB) Tait Reynolds (6-4, 195) Queen Creek, Ariz.
2. (DB) Shavar Young Jr. (6-0, 185) Knoxville, Tenn.
3. (QB) Brock Bradley (6-1, 185) Birmingham, Ala.
4. (TE) Tayveon Wilson (6-3, 210) Huntington, W. Va.
5. (OL) Braden Wilmes (6-6, 270) Lawrence, Kan.
6. (OL) Adam Guthrie (6-6, 292) Washington Court House, OH
7. (WR) Naeem Burroughs (6-0, 170) Jacksonville, Fla.
8. (WR) Connor Salmin (6-1, 185) Potomac, Md.
9. (OL) Grant Wise (6-3, 300) Pace, Fla.
10. (OL) Chance Barclay (6-4, 280) Orlando, Fla.
11. (DB) Marcell Gipson (5-11, 180) Dallas, TX
12. (DB) Kaden Gebhardt (6-1, 200) Lewis Center, OH
13. (DL) Kameron Cody (6-3, 265) Savannah, Ga.
14. (WR) Gordon Sellars (6-3, 195) Charlotte, N.C.
15. (DB) Kentavion Anderson (6-2, 190), Roebuck, S.C.
16. (OL) Leo Delaney (6-6, 290), Charlotte, N.C.
17. (DE) J.R. Hardrick (6-5, 232), South Pittsburg, Tenn.
18. (OL) Carter Scruggs (6-6, 300), Leesburg, Va.
19. (DE) Dre Quinn (6-4, 225), Buford, Ga.
20. (DT) Keshawn Stancil (6-3, 260) Clayton, N.C.
