Monday Insider

The Tigers now have the country’s Nos. 1- and 3-ranked prospects on their commitment list as Thomas joined Cartersville (Ga.) quarterback Trevor Lawrence. Lawrence as well as IMG four-star linebacker teammate Mike Jones Jr. were important contributors in Thomas’ ear.

Clemson and Alabama were the only two programs to produce a trio of five-star signees each of the last three cycles.

The real stunner would be if the Tigers don’t push their streak to four in a row.

2. The natural follow-up to Thomas’ widely unforeseen pledge has been, how likely will it stick?

Standard disclaimers, nothing is guaranteed until a prospect is enrolled or has signed a national letter of intent. And even then, there have been exceptions.

Furthermore, South Carolina coach Will Muschamp has a formidable resume for late defensive end flips, including luring five-star Dante Fowler away from childhood favorite Florida State while at Florida and later packing five-star Byron Cowart with him to Auburn following his Gators’ departure.

And yet, we come back to this: Clemson's staff would not have taken Thomas’ public commitment without strong confidence in its staying power.

You don’t tip your hand unnecessarily, and the timing and manner in which this played out reinforced that the Tigers had the evidence they needed.

We considered Thomas impressionable in the infant stages of his recruitment. But this announcement wasn’t hastily thrown together.

Thomas had his sisters, grandfather, two aunts and a cousin on campus Saturday for the decision.

We’ve expressed before the belief that Clemson does not experience the volume of decommitments other programs do for several reasons – a major one being that the Tigers do a deft job of wrapping their arms around a prospect and his recruitment.

For example, some kids commit to a school based strictly off their relationship with a position coach. Other commitments are taken or forced when a prospect gets caught up in the moment and is riding a visit high.

Clemson's staff takes a relatively unconventional approach. Dabo Swinney and staff convey a no-pressure sales pitch and encourage prospects to look elsewhere, then come back if Clemson is for them. If they’re going to commit, no more visits elsewhere.

A huge part of the Tigers’ courtship is forging and developing relationships with those around a prospect. That has plenty of effects on cultivating the family environment in his program that Swinney espouses. But a fringe benefit is that the stronger Clemson’s support around a prospect, the less likely his recruiting door cracks open.

In the last three classes, Clemson has had just one prospect commit who later backed out because he wanted to go elsewhere – 2015 corner Juwuan Briscoe.

The bottom line comes to this: It’s recruiting and anything can still happen.

But Clemson’s recent track record for commitment retention has to be among, if not the, best in the country.