Clemson Top 100 Recruiting

Jul 14, 2025, 9:38 AM

With Kilby likely going pro (about a 99.9% chance), I wanted to see how Clemson stacked up against similar schools in terms of recruiting top 100 and top 150 players since 2020. These rankings are according to Perfect Game, so if other sites rank differently this won't account for it. Also, these do not account for the 2025 draft or transfers, so with players still being drafted, I can't account for them quite yet. With transfers, I didn't want to include guys who came into the program, as they didn't sign with that team. An example would be Clavon this year, he would count for UGA not Clemson.

Since 2020, Clemson has had 9 players ranked in the top 100 commit, and only 3 have signed and played for Clemson: Will Taylor (2021 ranked 22nd), Tristan Smith (2022 ranked 24th), and Talan Bell (2024 ranked 33rd). All three of these recruits signed with Clemson not explicitly due to the love for Clemson, development, or anything else, but instead all had some baggage that scared MLB teams away. Taylor wanted to play football, so he dropped out of the draft, Smith had reliever concerns combined with a large bonus demand, and Bell was injured, and teams absolutely do not draft injured HS arms. I'm not suggesting that they don't love Clemson, but all would have been top 3 round picks in the draft.

Moving the range out to 150, Clemson has had 13 commits and 7 sign, and if you take out the top 100 guys, 4 have committed and signed. They have a 100% success rate with the 101-150 ranked guys, but for some reason don't really recruit in that range.

Comparing to other similar sized programs in the southeast(ish), and some SEC giants, Clemson is tied for the lowest success rate on top 100 players, with a 33% hit rate. This is tied with Louisville, making them last out of 16 teams I looked at. UGA is on top, with a 100% hit rate, going 5 for 5 on top guys since 2020. Florida is on top in terms of signed players, with 15 guys signed on, and LSU has had the most top 100 commitments, with 35 (with 14 players signed on). In terms of signees, Clemson is again tied with Louisville, but at 13th. NCSt and UNC are the only teams below, with 2 signees each.

The top 150 list is pretty boring honestly, most teams have a 100% success rate except for Duke, who hasn't recruited a single player in the 101-150 range in the last five years. LSU and Florida lead with 8 signees in this range.

I think most of the recruiting comes down to player development and the standing of the baseball program within the respective athletic departments. Florida has been sticking with the top teams in baseball, and with football not performing well since Tebow, baseball is the second-best sport at the school behind basketball. LSU has probably the best baseball standing of any program in the country, with baseball being the top program in terms of history and performance. Basketball and football have both had success, but no team in the country compares to the success the baseball team has had in the last 40 years.

This success, combined with financial backing, makes LSU a lot more appealing to recruits, as guys drafted in rounds 3-5 legitimately have a shot at improving their draft stock by going to LSU. Clemson hasn't had that type of success, with only 14 first round picks in the entire history of the program.

I think coaching needs to improve most importantly. Wake Forest, I would bet, has a lower amount of funds than Clemson does, but they are known for developing pitching like no tomorrow. Chase Burns, a top pitcher in 2023, transferred from Tennessee because he wanted to develop going into the draft, and it paid off as he went 2nd in the 2024 draft. Clemson lacks a coaching identity, and maybe if they put resources into a robust development program, they might be able to compete with the giants in the SEC for top prospects. The football team does it, with development and culture being the main selling points to recruits, allowing them to compete with teams much more willing to drop loads of money on recruits.

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