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1. Another door opens.
The NCAA's recruiting dead period ends today. College coaches were given a month off from hosting prospects on campus, as much as a means to save them from themselves.
So the gates open tomorrow, but Clemson has dates circled a little later this week.
Spring practice kicks off Wednesday, and we will have plenty of team coverage from media availability windows then and Friday.
Yet as we've been previewing since the end of Clemson's elite junior day in January, the Tigers have their second major junior day lined up for Saturday.
For this one, Clemson's coaches targeted priority juniors who either weren't able to make it in January or others who are either next up on the board or pique their interest.
The Tigers have then cast a wider net for prospects to attend next week's March 12 practice, particularly with the intent of bringing in some appealing sophomores.
Junior days and spring practices are important regardless.
But starting Wednesday and leading up to the April 9 spring game, Clemson hosting recruits for spring practices bears increasing significance this year in particular.
With all the coaching turnover experienced on both sides of the ball, the Tigers have emphasized luring targets to a spring practice in order to address or pacify questions folks might have about the credibility or personality change in the new staff.
So a busy time ahead.
Or in progress, depending on one's perspective.
The Under Armour camp series made its stop in Atlanta on Sunday -- among the most relevant events involving Clemson's targets and candidates on the spring circuit.
We traveled to Alpharetta (Ga.) and counted several dozen pertinent prospects in action, with plenty of returns to come.
Camp season is now underway, with the Rivals Camp Series hitting Charlotte, N.C., in three weeks. And that's not to mention the 7-on-7 events warranting attention the next couple of weeks.
The NCAA's spring evaluation period begins April 15 -- the Friday after Clemson's spring game.
But coaches will have a lot more information in their hands before deciding where to hit the road for their next recruiting travels.
2. Clemson got a head start late last week upon dispensing a pair of new offers.
The one we would characterize as strongly relevant for this class went Thursday to Alpharetta (Ga.) Denmark four-star linebacker Dee Crayton.
Crayton (6-2, 215), ranked No. 132 overall by Rivals.com, has been in conversation with new defensive coordinator Wes Goodwin since the promotion.
Goodwin had moved on just one new junior linebacker since taking the post in December, and that was Jacksonville (Fla.) Andrew Jackson's Grayson Howard, an elite junior day visitor.
Goodwin's predecessor, Brent Venables, had some typecasts in his recruiting scouting report. So it stood to be interesting whether Goodwin's tastes matched Venables, or whether he idealized anything different.
The sample size will need to be larger for a credible conclusion to form there. But at least there's another candidate with which to begin forming a profile.
As we have mentioned, our intel has pointed to Penn State and Auburn having been the schools pushing the hardest for Crayton and therefore holding his attention.
That market had admittedly prompted us to retain some question on Crayton. Yet upon observing him in position drills Sunday at the Under Armour camp, we came away feeling Crayton seems to be undervalued by college suitors.
We can tell you Crayton has locked in a visit for Clemson's junior day Saturday.
Clemson is armed with the ability to slingshot around those other contenders, and in our estimation the offer pulls the Tigers into that slipstream behind them -- and the visit should push Clemson ahead, if it isn't already.
3. The other new offer may well have carried more gravity because it's at running back, where the Tigers had sat on two lone offers for eight months.
Orlando (Fla.) Edgewater four-star running back Cedric Baxter picked up an offer Friday.
Baxter (6-1, 215), ranked No. 90 nationally, reopened his recruitment last spring after committing to Florida State before his sophomore year.
He grew up a 'Noles fan in an FSU family, but Baxter is believed to have his eyes on a more successful program.
