Quavaris Crouch: 5 star details why he loves Clemson, why Dabo is a major factor

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Wed Oct 24 07:01:03 GMT-04:00 2018

Quavaris Crouch looks beyond the football field when visiting college campuses. Wins and losses are important, but Crouch is about more than football. He’s about relationships, academics, and feeling safe with his religious beliefs.

Clemson checks all of those boxes.

Crouch, a 5-star athlete out of Charlotte (NC) Harding University, visited the Clemson campus last weekend for the Tigers’ 41-7 victory over NC State. Crouch told TigerNet the visit was all he could have hoped for.

“The visit went great. It was my first time going up to the top of the hill and in the locker room with the boys, so it was great,” Crouch said. “I talked to Coach Dabo (Swinney) and Coach (Danny) Pearman. It's always a great experience at Clemson; I'm not going to lie to you. Every time I've gone there, I've had a good experience.”

Standing at the top of the hill as the Tigers ran down made an impression.

“It's overwhelming a little bit because it's like, 'Dang man!' You have to still remember in the back of your head that it's still recruiting,” Crouch said. “For the most part, it's amazing. You just feel like your a part of the team and a part of a family.”

Crouch spent valuable time with Swinney.

“He just said that I'm going to be a great player wherever I go and that he's looking forward to me being a Tiger if that's what I want to do,” Crouch sad. “He's looking forward to coaching me and building a relationship with my family and stuff like that.”

Crouch plays both running back and linebacker in high school but likely will end up on the defensive side in college. He said he’s developing a relationship with defensive coordinator Brent Venables and that Venables’ message is simple.

“I talked to Coach Venables. he told me to get ready to play some defense and that if I decide to play defense to get ready to hit somebody,” Crouch said. “He was telling me why I would fit in on defense and how he would use me. I think because of my personality I would fit in at linebacker. I feel like I can play outside, inside and I think I would be good at blitzing.

“I don't play conservative. I like to play fast. Coach Venables was telling me that if I came to Clemson, I would probably come off the edge and get after the quarterback and then I could drop back and play zone.”

Crouch said he expected Clemson to win Saturday but didn’t foresee a blowout.

“I was a little surprised. I thought State was a little better than that,” he said. “At the end of the day, somebody's gotta lose, and somebody's gotta win. Somebody came to play, and they didn't. It lets you know that football is real. It doesn't matter if you're undefeated or not, if you don't come to play, you'll get knocked off. That's just how it is.”

Recent reports have indicated that Crouch favors Clemson, along with Michigan, Florida St., Tennessee, and South Carolina. However, the Gamecocks and Vols appear to be losing traction while the Tigers are gaining.

“Clemson is always going to be high. It's hard to beat Clemson,” Crouch said. “Clemson is always going to be good. I don't have any rankings or numbers, but I know Clemson is good with me, so that's all I can probably say about it.”

What sets Clemson apart?

“Clemson is close to home. People in my family would be able to see me. You don't want people to be around too much,” Crouch said. “It's close to the house so everybody can come and not be a distraction. They're always going to be consistent, and they're always going to be good. We've got Trevor (Lawrence). As long as you've got a good quarterback, you're going to be okay. The defense is going to be good. They always bring in a top-10 class every time, so you know the talent is going to be there. We'd be playing with a great group of guys.”

However, one of the biggest draws for Crouch is the fact that Swinney doesn’t mind sharing his testimony.

“I lean on God for everything I do in life, so that's a pretty big factor with him being a Christian coach and stuff like that,” Crouch said. “That's my foundation. Anywhere I can pray, I feel like I would be safe there. To have your head coach be a believer in Jesus Christ is a big thing for me.”