Clemson's recent success means something to Trevor Lawrence

Lawrence will make a decision later this fall

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Tue Aug 02 07:59:57 GMT-04:00 2016

Trevor Lawrence is taking his time in making a college decision, but whoever winds up with the 5-star signal caller is getting the real deal.

There were signs that the 2018 quarterback out of Cartersville (GA) would make a decision at some point this week, but it was learned Monday that he will wait until later in the fall to make that decision. He has said publicly that the battle for his services is down to Clemson and Georgia.

Lawrence is the darling of the national recruiting services and is already listed as a 5-star by both Rivals and 247. Rivals lists the 6-6, 200-pounder as the top quarterback for the 2018 recruiting cycle.

With good reason, according to his high school coach.

“He's the best by far that I've coached. It's like I tell all of the recruiters and all of the interviewers that call, he's the real deal in every category,” Joey King said. “Not only is he a phenomenal talent with what God's given him but he's taken what God has given him and really busted his tail and worked at his craft day in and day out. He's an exceptional kid. He's a really, really good student. His leadership is growing every day and he's learning how to embrace that role. All around, he's everything you could ever want in a kid and a quarterback.”

Lawrence has offers from Alabama, California, Cincinnati, Clemson, Colorado State, Duke, Florida, Georgia, Houston, LSU, Miami, Michigan, Mississippi, Mississippi State, Missouri, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Southern Miss, Tennessee, UCF, Vanderbilt, Virginia Tech and others. His first offer was from Colorado State. Clemson offered in June of 2015, and Lawrence was on hand for head coach Dabo Swinney’s high school camp in June.

He showed off exceptional arm strength in drills, but King said Lawrence has more than just arm strength.

“It comes out of his hand pretty hot. He makes good, quick decisions,” King said. “He gets the ball out quick. Somebody asked me not too long ago what his biggest strength is and I said, yes his arm strength is great but if you throw it to a wall it doesn't matter. His accuracy is really, really good.”

What does King believe has kept the Tigers in contention throughout the recruiting process? A lot of recent success.

“I think he believes in what they've got going on right now. He likes Coach Swinney and the feeling he gets around the staff,” King said. “It's the success they've had over the last several years - winning 10 ballgames a year for however many times they've done it - that's one of the reasons he likes Clemson. Coach Swinney is a proven winner and he's got a great staff around him.”

As a sophomore, Lawrence completed 233 out of 364 passes for 3655 yards with 43 touchdowns and only four interceptions.

As a freshman, he passed for 3,042 yards with 26 touchdowns to lead Cartersville to the AAAA semifinals. As an 8th grader, he had 1173 passing yards with 18 passing touchdowns and nine rushing touchdowns.