Former Penn State commit Tomarrion Parker taking a long look at the Tigers

Last season Parker totaled 78 tackles and 15 sacks, and he scored two touchdowns off turnovers.

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Sat Aug 13 07:00:05 GMT-04:00 2022

The Clemson coaches are once again looking at a familiar high school for a top prospect, this one a former Penn State commit.

Phenix City (AL) Central has been a good recruiting stop for Clemson in recent years. From Justyn Ross to EJ Williams to Ray Thornton (who has since transferred to USF), the Tigers have plucked some talented players from that powerhouse located between Columbus, GA, and Auburn, AL. The Tigers this week reached back into the Central program with an offer to DE Tomarrion Parker (6-4 250) just a day after he decommitted from Penn State.

Clemson defensive ends coach Lemanski Hall has been recruiting Parker for over a year. And it also helps the Tigers’ cause that their defensive tackles coach Nick Eason was at Auburn and saw Parker a lot last season.

“They were one of the first schools to start recruiting me back in 2021,” Parker said. “Coach Hall talked about offering me, but on his end, he couldn’t do it until I met the criteria. There was a mix-up in the classes I needed on my transcript, so I went and got those fixed. I will graduate early, so I will be an early enrollee. Once that happened and I decommitted, it was all in from there. I have a great relationship with Coach Hall. Coach Eason, since he came from Auburn, I went to seven home games at Auburn.”

Parker said he’s highly interested in Clemson now that he has the offer, and as a defensive end, there’s a good reason for him to look hard at the Tigers.

“Four defensive ends are leaving this year to the (NFL) Draft,” Parker said. “They need players who want to play right away.”

Parker hasn’t scheduled any official visits for the fall, but Clemson will get one. He said some other schools getting into the mix with him include Florida, Tennessee, Georgia and Michigan State.

“I’m going to sit back and take my visits and evaluate what I want to do,” Parker said. “I’m not making any decisions right now. I want to dive into the schools I’m interested in. I’m working on official visits with my parents and my coaches.”

Parker said he will wait to make this final commitment decision after he takes his official visits but hopes to commit somewhere before the playoffs in November.

Parker totaled 78 tackles and 15 sacks last season, and he scored two touchdowns off turnovers.