Louisiana running back Etienne might be closer to decision after Clemson visit

Etienne was on campus this weekend

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sun Jan 22 16:14:16 GMT-04:00 2017

The Clemson coaching staff has been on the road all week, but returned home in time to host one of their final remaining targets for the 2017 recruiting cycle in Travis Etienne.

Etienne, out of Jennings (LA), is a 4-star prospect rated as the fourth-best prospect in the state of Louisiana by ESPN. Etienne (5-11, 212) is on the radar of several teams heading down the stretch. He committed to Texas A&M in June before withdrawing his pledge two months later.

LSU offered two weeks ago after missing on five-star Cam Akers, and Etienne subsequently announced a final three of Tennessee, Texas A&M and LSU. Clemson commit Cordarrian Richardson announced his de-commitment from the Tigers late last month, and Clemson moved on Etienne.

Running backs coach Tony Elliott visited Etienne a few weeks ago and head coach Dabo Swinney recently conducted an in-home visit, and that visit earned Clemson this weekend’s official visit.

“It was a good visit; it went good” said Travis Etienne Sr. “They’ve got a good coaching staff around here. The blow away was their new facility. He had a good visit with the coaches. He interacted really well with them and he enjoyed it.”

Clemson is looking for a replacement for the departed Wayne Gallman, looking to sign a bigger back. Etienne rushed for 2,952 yards and 43 touchdowns as a senior to go with 251 receiving yards and three receiving scores.

Did this weekend’s visit bring Etienne any closer to a decision?

“He may visit LSU (this weekend) but he said he’s got it based in his mind of where he thinks he wants to go,” the senior Etienne said. “He said he’s misses basketball and the team is in the district playoffs and he really wants to go help his team. He’s from Louisiana and he’s been to LSU a whole bunch of times so he wants to go catch him some basketball.”

However, his father cautions that his son is having a hard time making a final decision.

“He tells me something different every week,” Etienne Sr. said. “I don’t know. Clemson just came in. First it was LSU, A&M and Tennessee. Clemson came in and hey, it was good, we were in Clemson. Hey daddy, we’re going to Clemson. He’s been changing his mind every week on me but we’re going to have to have a sit down. It used to be tell me the final three, now it’s tell me where you are going.”

His father said that Etienne might make a decision on his birthday, which is Thursday of this week.