1. The green flag is out.

Recruiting never truly stops, as we often say.

But the annual marathon isn't run at a steady pace. There are sprints, steady jogs ... and, during August, what amounts to a break at the water station.

A little recruiting activity transpires. By and large, though, Clemson wants its business done before the start of preseason camp so staffers can concentrate on team preparation through the long days.

As the Tigers advance into a weekly game routine, and as the NCAA's contact period reopens this week, break time is over.

Join Tigerillustrated.com subscribers on The West Zone message board!

Most of the hay for this class is already in the barn; Clemson corralled 17 commitments in little over two summer months to run its class total to 20.

The Tigers reside at No. 7 in the Rivals.com team recruiting class rankings heading into the season. They boast the nation's fourth-best average star rating (3.85), trailing only the schools with the Nos. 1-3 overall classes in No. 2 Ohio State (4.05), No. 3 Notre Dame (3.91) and No. 1 Alabama (3.86). Those are the only three schools with more four- and five-stars on the commitment list, too.

And Clemson ain't done yet.

To reset, here's where the Tigers are with remaining vacancies, per our intel: