McDonald’s coach says "He is still a Tiger, and will be a Tiger"

McDonald committed to the Tigers on March 3.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Sat Mar 17 11:53:53 GMT-04:00 2012

The commotion over whether Isacc McDonald is still committed to Clemson is much ado over nothing according to McDonald’s head coach.

McDonald is the linebacker prospect who committed to the Tigers last week following a visit to the Clemson campus. McDonald went home, talked it over with his head coach at Hialeah (FL) Champagnat Catholic -Mike Tunsil – and made the decision to become a Tiger.

However, he took a visit to South Carolina last week with teammates Charles Williams Charles Williams

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McDonald later said that the South Carolina visit really stuck out in his mind and led some to wonder if the 6-5, 205-pounder was re-thinking his decision.

No way, says Tunsil.

“He is still committed to Clemson,” Tunsil told TigerNet Saturday morning. “I know people are reading some things out there that make it seem like he isn’t or he is re-considering, but there is no way. I talked to him when he came back.”

Tunsil told TigerNet following McDonald’s commitment that he expects his players to stand by their decisions.

“I have been in this business long enough to know that when a kid commits, it’s time to shut it down,” Tunsil said. “They [recruiters] will still be going after the parents, but on my end, this is done. He is committed to Clemson.”

Tunsil reiterated that stance Saturday, and said that he made sure that McDonald still wants to be a Tiger, simply because he feels like the Clemson coaching staff would want to know if a recruit was wavering.

“If he was even thinking about de-committing, I would have called Clemson and told them,” he said. “They deserve that. And I haven’t called them. He is still a Tiger, and will be a Tiger. I think what happened was you saw South Carolina showing him a good time. But it’s about more than a good time. He went to Clemson the next day, and they were on their last practice and ready to get out for spring break. Those guys were ready to go home. But you don’t have to be shown a great time every time you are on campus, especially if that is a place you are going to live.”