BleacherCoaches.com

Paterson (N.J.) Catholic senior defensive lineman Trevor “T.J.” Clemmings reiterated his coach’s comments that he has not verbally committed to Pittsburgh.

“I just told them I liked them but no commitment,” the 6-6, 263-pound Clemmings said by phone.

“I’m going to take my other visits first and if Pitt is supposed to be where it is , then I’ll be there.”

Clemmings said he plans to take his five officials in the fall, including possibly visiting Florida and Ohio State.

I want to know why eight of the ten Pitt commits are not even ranked by Rivals at their respective positions? Surely we are at a point in the recruiting season where Rivals has enough tape and/or information on them to give them a position ranking, or give them at least one star. When it's almost July and six of your ten commits have zero starts that must surely say something about your coaching staff!

We are at a point in the recuiting season where NO ONE has played a down as a senior yet. Everything right now is based on potential, and how they have done in the past. Maybe this upcoming year some of the 3 star WR's out there may be playing with a NEW QB and won't be as good or have as good of a statistical year as last year. Who knows?

Just in from Vman's tentacle like sources: A Pitter recruitnik got off the phone with Benjie Wimberly, TJ Clemmings' coach at Paterson Catholic, and I think the conversation adds some more clarity the situation.

Wimberly spoke to Clemmings last night and he is confident that Clemmings is committed to Pitt. Wimberly did say that Clemmings and his father will discuss the possibility of taking some unofficial visits this summer, but he followed up by saying this:

"A kid like T.J. is...I don’t want to call him stubborn, but he’s very committed when he says something. So if he changes his mind, I’ll be beyond surprised."

Now, I know that we have to consider the source on these quotes about Clemmings; after all, when Wimberly came out and made his initial quotes about Clemmings' commitment, we downplayed those statements. So I asked Wimberly about the statements he made immediately after Clemmings committed.

"The issue was that he committed and didn’t speak to me or his dad or anybody. Kids do stuff sometimes, and you say, 'I don’t have a problem with what you did but how you did it.'

"He's very comfortable with Pitt as his choice of a school and I'm very comfortable with it. Pitt has a pretty strong reputation in North Jersey and at Paterson."

Wimberly added that he has been in touch with Jeff Hafley, and Pitt, Wimberly, and the Clemmings family are all on the same page.

"I’ve been in contact with Coach Hafley and I think he’s comfortable that T.J. is committed to Pitt. I just want him to enjoy his summer, do his work outs, and move on. He has a great situation at Pitt and I’m happy for him."

Wimberly also talked at length about Clemmings being a humble kid who does not want any of the publicity he has received and definitely doesn't want any more to come his way, particularly given the events of the past week and a half. Apparently Clemmings was virtually bombarded with pseudo-recruiting contact in the aftermath of his commitment by e-mails and text messages extolling other programs.

"He was getting pressure from a lot of places that I didn’t even know about. Even some of his teammates are on the internet and they were telling him he should go here or there.

"Recruiting can be fun for some kids and a nightmare for others. He said to me, 'Coach, I’m comfortable; why is everybody questioning my comfort level?'"

As you might expect, Clemmings isn't too fond of speaking to the media at this point.
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Nitters don't like it when their offers sign w/ Panthers.....Clemmings had offers from UPS, Fla , Geo, Miami, Tennessee etc..

Panthers also got Safety Jeff Knox from Dematha who had offers from Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State UPS ND & Miami

Then signed stud defender Bryan Murphy offers from: Boston College Colorado Louisville Maryland & Michigan State

Next stud rb TJ Peeler, Panthers # 1 target @ this position....chose Pitt over Virginia Virginia Tech
Wake Forest West Virginia Connecticut Maryland North Carolina & N.C. State

WPIAL super athlete Kevin Weatherspoon also in the fold; he was being courted by Syracuse West Virginia
Wisconsin Akron Toledo Maryland North Carolina

Salath Williams comes from Bishop McDevitt a 6' 4" big time receiver chose Panthers over offers from Purdue Rutgers Syracuse Virginia West Virginia Connecticut Iowa Maryland Michigan State

Continuing to pillage NJ the Panthers also got Don Bosco Prep super athletic offensive lineman Brandon Sacco, 6'3" 250, projects as an interior lineman, either at center or guard, and he chose Pitt over offers from Rutgers, Virginia, Vanderbilt and Miami .

From St Joe's in NJ came cb K'Waun Williams choosing Pitt over Rutgers Syracuse Virginia Boston College Florida Maryland Miami Notre Dame & the University of Penn State

Add this list to local greats Derrick Burns & Aaron Donald and these Panthers are doing very well in a supposedly down year!! Of course more to come :!: :!: :!:

Wow, you better get that crack staff to actually do the research. That whole last part of your post is wrong, Vman.

First off, Clemmings is a very good prospect. He is def the best kid Pitt has "committed" if he even is. The kid himself said YESTERDAY he is not committed! How much more of "from the horse's mouth" do you get?

"he’s very committed when he says something. So if he changes his mind, I’ll be beyond surprised."

YESTERDAY he made it clear... no committment!

Clemmings DOES NOT have all those offers. He definitely does not have a PSU offer, for one. You are claiming a Florida offer for this kid, which you just made up. And do you actually think this kid will end up at Pitt if he visits those big schools? Give me a break. He's already waivered twice and denied a commitment. What really happened was that Wanny and the staff got him on a visit without his HS coach or his parents and they got him to "commit". Ask your crack staff about that one. You forget I follow Pitt recruiting as well, because I want Pitt as a buffer between us and OSU. We should WANT Pitt to win 9 games a season. We WANT to battle Pitt for WPIAL kids instead of head to heads with OSU for everybody.

As for the rest of that Panther propaganda, read my thread below about Pitt's recruiting weekend. I listed all the offers those kids legitimately have at this point. Those guys on the Pitt rivals board have been feeding the Pitters a bunch of malarkey with their recruiting. Do the research yourself. Salath Williams and that RB from VA are both very nice pickups, as would be Clemmings, but I can almost guarantee you that Clemmings ends up at a real college.

The Ancient Enemy wrote:Wow, you better get that crack staff to actually do the research. That whole last part of your post is wrong, Vman. .....Clemmings DOES NOT have all those offers. He definitely does not have a PSU offer, for one. .

Link: http://pittsburgh.rivals.com/viewprospe ... 01&Sport=1

Hey, I showed you the offers each of those kids have. Believe what you want. The kid said himself he's not committed to Pitt. How much was your fare to Fantasy Island?

BTW, Penn State Offer List : Strongside defensive end

Ht/Wt/40 Hometown Rank Schools
J.R. Ferguson 6.1 6-3/272/4.9 Chatham, VA NR list
Dominique Easley 5.8 6-3/258/4.7 Staten Island, NY NR list
Darryl Baldwin 5.7 6-6/250/4.69 Solon, OH NR list
T.J. Clemmings 5.7 6-6/265/- Paterson, NJ NR Pittsburgh

Those are verbal offers. Clemmings has a verbal offer to Penn State. I'm guessing this mythical Florida offer is of the same variety.