Clemson continues to pull away from ACC in recruiting

Clemson has six prospects rated higher than the next-best signee from the ACC.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Thu Feb 06 12:03:33 GMT-05:00 2020

Trenton Simpson - Linebacker
TigerNet: (5.00)

Height: 6-3 Weight: 224 Hometown: Charlotte, NC (Mallard Creek HS) Class: 2020

ESPN:

#92 Overall, #9 LB, #3 NC

Rivals:

#11 Overall, #1 LB, #1 NC

24/7:

# 12 Overall, # 1 OLB, # 1 NC

Dabo Swinney’s Tigers extended their lead on the rest of the ACC in talent with the 2020 recruiting class.

According to the 247Sports Composite, Clemson was the only school from the league to bring in a 5-star prospect and did so with five signees in Bryan Bresee, Myles Murphy, DJ Uiagalelei, Demarkcus Bowman and Trenton Simpson.

The Tigers also had another 4-star prospect in Demonte Capehart rated ahead of the next-best ACC signee (No. 34 overall, CB Demorie Tate of Florida State).

Clemson is third in the 247Sports Composite (309.73) in what was a tight race behind Georgia (313.34) and Alabama (310.44).

Miami (13), UNC (19) and Florida State (22) each had top-25 classes and Georgia Tech wasn’t far off (26). Those were the only programs in the top-40 from the conference.

NC State (41), Louisville (42), Pittsburgh (44) and Virginia (48) cracked the top-50.

Clemson is the only team in the ACC to hold a top-20 class each of the last five seasons, while the neighboring Power 5 conference SEC has had six (Alabama, LSU, Georgia, Auburn, Florida and Texas A&M). Florida State is the only other ACC team with a top-25 class in each of those years (12th average finish; 21st over last two years).

Ahead of the 2019 season, Florida State (878.07) was still ahead of Clemson (863.03) in 247Sports' Team Talent Composite, with Miami the only other top-25 program from the league (18th; 815.12).