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Clemson has again reached into North Carolina and plucked out the recruit it wanted.
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Winston-Salem (N.C.) Prep defensive end Zaire Patterson has announced his commitment to the Tigers.
ALSO SEE: Tuesday Insider Notes | Vicious recruiting cycle | Clemson's verbal commitments
Patterson (6-6, 230) picked Clemson over South Carolina, North Carolina and Alabama.
LSU offered last week, joining Auburn, Notre Dame, Florida State, Florida, N.C. State, Tennessee and others among his additional offers. All told, Patterson claimed 21 offers.
Patterson and his mother visited Clemson for its November victory against Wake Forest.
The Tigers then made Patterson their third defensive end offer this cycle in January.
The first two offers committed coming out of the following weekend. Yet Clemson's staff stayed involved, so that when it lost one to decommitment in March, the heat had already been turned up.
Patterson was slated to make a return visit to Clemson during the spring, but that trip was preempted by pandemic restrictions precluding recruiting travel.
As a junior, Patterson was credited with 129 tackles, nine sacks and three interceptions in 12 games.
His commitment comes on the heels of Clemson snagging Matthews (N.C.) Weddington four-star running back Will Shipley from the state earlier this month.
UNC extended his first offer at the start of his sophomore season, and South Carolina came in after the campaign.
The Gamecocks are believed to have finished runner-up, having drawn the most visits from him during the process.
Patterson now gives Clemson two defensive end commitments again, along with Lakeland (Fla.) Christian four-star Cade Denhoff.
That is the figure Dabo Swinney has planned to take for this class, although circumstances are subject to change if scholarship numbers at the position were to change.
Patterson makes for Clemson’s 13th total commitment in this class. Eleven of those carry four-star ratings, and it wouldn’t be a surprise us if Patterson eventually joins that group.
The Tigers have the No. 3-ranked recruiting class by Rivals.com as well as the nation’s third-best per-commitment average star rating (3.85).
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