THE WEST ZONE message board | SHOP NOW: DEALS on CLEMSON apparel

1. Stars can cluster, but not usually like this.

We’ve laid out evidence in recent weeks for why this Clemson class is taking shape to be characterized as special – not just within the context of program history, but nationally as well.

April flowers have brought May showers, as we foreshadowed. It’s relatively pouring.

Clemson could be on the verge of its third five-star commitment in May.

A team has notched that many in a single month six times in the past decade, although usually via a spree around a National Signing Day.

Only twice in the last 10 years has a school notched three away from a signing day close, most recently Georgia’s stretch of landing quarterback JustIn Fields, running back James Cook and defensive end Adam Anderson in October 2017.

Moreover, it’s within reason Clemson accumulates five in a two-month period.

The only comparable case traces back to 2010, when Florida scored three five-stars in one January official visit weekend – defensive back Matt Elam, defensive end Ronald Powell and defensive tackle Shariff Floyd – a week after defensive tackle Dominique Easley pledged.

No one in recent history has accrued this volume of five-stars so early in the cycle.

And with more still likely to come.

2. One five-star who has expedited the process is Catawissa (Penn.) Southern Columbia receiver Julian Fleming.