CLEMSON RECRUITING

Clemson's first commitment goes public
Maryville was the Class 6A State Champions in Tennessee last season.

Clemson's first commitment goes public


by - Senior Writer -

Clemson’s first commitment of the 2012 recruiting class, center Jay Guillermo of Maryville, TN, isn’t going to let the fact that he has already made his college choice interrupt his work ethic.

In fact, he intends to work harder.

Guillermo was offered by the Clemson coaching staff last Wednesday, and gave them a silent commit last Thursday. This weekend, he made the choice to go public, and promptly went back to work.

“It’s raining here and I just got back in from working out,” Guillermo told TigerNet Monday afternoon. “I have been outside flipping big tires. And I went out a couple of weeks ago and bought a big sledgehammer, and I’ve been swinging that and hitting the tires. I am going to keep working.”

Guillermo told TigerNet late last week that he wanted to wait on making a decision so that other members of his high school team could be seen by schools coming to watch him play, but decided to go public after talking with head coach Dabo Swinney on Saturday.

“I actually committed last Thursday, but I wanted to keep it under the radar because I’ve got some other players on my team that I want colleges to look at,” he said. “They are all really good players. The coaches at Clemson wanted to make sure I was All In, but they understood my reason to not go public with it yet.

“But I talked to Coach Swinney Saturday, and he said that more colleges would try and steal me away if I made it public and made it known. And more schools would come in and look at my teammates. So I talked to my head coach on Sunday morning, because I wanted to get his thoughts. After talking to him, we decided to make it public. I’m completely sold on Clemson, but I will do whatever I can for my teammates because I love them like brothers. I will do whatever I can to help them.”

Guillermo celebrated his commitment by wearing a Clemson shirt to school on Monday.

“It was pretty great,” he said. “I went into school and had on my Clemson Tigers shirt. Most of the people already knew, but I had a lot of teachers congratulating me and stuff. It’s nice being a Clemson commit. My family and I, we pretty much knew Clemson was where I was going to commit to. I said this was where I need to be. And we all felt the same way.”

And now, it’s back to work.

“My grandfather always told me that if something is worth having, you will work for it. And I want to work for everything I get.”

More from TigerNet on Guillermo

Ultimate Level LogoUpgrade Your Account

Unlock premium boards and exclusive features (e.g. ad-free) by upgrading your account today.

Upgrade Now
Comment on this story
Print   
Send Feedback to David Hood: Email | Comment
Scanlon's walk-off homer lifts Hurricanes over No. 2 Tigers
Scanlon's walk-off homer lifts Hurricanes over No. 2 Tigers
WATCH: Clemson players react to their Sweet 16 win over Arizona
WATCH: Clemson players react to their Sweet 16 win over Arizona
WATCH: Clemson vs. Arizona Sweet 16 extended highlights
WATCH: Clemson vs. Arizona Sweet 16 extended highlights
Everything Brad Brownell said after Clemson advanced to the Elite 8
Everything Brad Brownell said after Clemson advanced to the Elite 8
State
Position
Last Name
Post your comments!