More from Scout: Clowney Announcement Live Coverage | Final Scout300 | Team Rankings
Jadeveon Clowney (6'5/245) of Rock Hill, S.C. is scheduled to announce his
college decision Monday morning, and with that announcement, some closure will
be given to the Signing Class of 2011. The class won't be entirely done as there
are some players that will get late scholarship offers and others who still
haven't signed their Letters of Intent, but Clowney is still the big prize to
add to a Signing Class.
Clowney appears to be down to three schools, long thought favorite South
Carolina, perennial challenger Alabama, and late charging Clemson. How would
Clowney's signature effect each of the teams' rankings?
Scout's Team Rankings formula counts each team's top 25 players in order to help
balance the effects of oversigning. South Carolina and Clemson are both over the
25 limit, with the Gamecocks having already inked a whopping 31 players.
Clowney's full value to the Team Recruiting Rankings is 300 points, 200 points
for being 5-Stars and 100 points for being No. 1 at his position (about
team rankings). Neither South Carolina or Clemson would get the full 300
points because of being over the cap of 25.
Currently South Carolina's 25th ranked signee is defensive end Mason Harris of
Rossville, Ga. As a 3-Star rated prospect ranked 124th at his position (out of
209 nationally) Harris adds 81 points to South Carolina's Team Ranking. Should
Clowney choose the Gamecocks, his value minus Harris' value would be 219 points
which would be good enough to move South Carolina to No. 11.
Clemson oversigned as well and brought in 29 players on Signing Day. Clemson's
25th player as it stands is cornerback Adam Humphries (5'11/175) of Spartanburg,
S.C. rated 3-Stars and ranked 123rd out of 181 nationally ranked cornerbacks.
Clowney's 300 points minus Humphries' 72 points would add 228 to Clemson's
total, good enough to move the Tigers ahead of Oregon for a Top 10 class.
Clowney's effect on Alabama's class is much simpler. Alabama shows 23 players on
its commitment list, which means Clowney's full 300 points would count for
Alabama.
The logjam at the top of the recruiting rankings for Scout this year was
unprecedented. The difference between No. 7 Georgia and No. 2 Auburn was closer
than it's been since Scout revamped its formula in 2006, a mere 262 points.
Clowney alone would be the difference between a No. 7 ranking and a No. 2
ranking right now. In 2010 the difference between No. 7 and No. 2 was almost
1100 points, meaning three Jadeveon Clowney's wouldn't have been enough for LSU
to have caught Oklahoma.
If Clowney chooses Alabama, the Tide leaps to the No. 2 spot on Scout's Team
Rankings.
Clowney moves South Carolina No. 11, Clemson to No. 10, and Alabama to No.
2.
At least until the Signing Period is over April 1st and players who didn't sign
their LOIs are removed and the ranking are recalculated. Scout ranks the classes
again in September based on the players who enroll.
Of course the true measure of a recruiting class can't be ranked until three or
four years down the road, but for the time being, that's Clowney by the numbers.
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