Blanks ready to get to Clemson and compete

Blanks locks down a receiver at Clemson's summer camp.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Tue Nov 01 21:47:34 GMT-04:00 2011

Travis Blanks Travis Blanks
Defensive Back
6-1, 180
Tallahassee, FL
View Full Profile is ready to move on.

The four star cornerback out of North Florida Christian in Tallahassee, FL, says he is ready to be on Clemson’s campus in January.

“I will be moving in on January 9th,” Blanks told TigerNet Tuesday evening. “I am pretty excited about that. I am just trying to finish up high school in December and move on.”

Blanks said he doesn’t care about the final few months of high school, school dances or even the prom because he is so focused on the Tigers and participating in spring practice.

“That is what is the most important thing to me, is coming in and competing,” he said. “I am not real big on the prom and all of that stuff. That is just stuff I can do without. What is important to me is to get on campus, get started in school and go to spring practice and things like that. I am ready to learn the system.”

The Tigers have started out 8-1 and have a chance to win the ACC Atlantic Division title with a win against Wake Forest in their next game, and Blanks said he has been an ardent follower of everything that has happened this season.

“It is awesome the ways that things have turned around this season,” he said. “That is a young team, so the majority of those guys will be coming back and the foundation will be there. That will give me the opportunity to come in and compete for a starting spot and be on one of the top teams in the country and be in the national spotlight that Clemson has picked up this year.”

He said that he believes he can win a starting spot if he works hard enough.

“That has been my goal since day one,” he said. “Even before Clemson played the first game this season and since I gave them my commitment. That is one of the reasons I am coming in early. I want to get in there and work out with the team. Five months of working out will give me added muscle, and I will learn a lot in the spring. When fall camp comes, there should be no excuse for why I can't compete for a starting spot.”

The man defense favored by defensive coordinator Kevin SteeleKevin Steele
Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers
View Full Profile is also a big draw to Blanks, who says he feels like he can cover any wide receiver he goes up against.

“That is one of the things that Coach Steele and Coach [Charlie] Harbison like about me,” he said. “When I came up there to camp I think I proved to them that I can cover out there on that island. I have good size – not superb size – but I am big enough to play safety or corner or even nickel. I can go out there and play man-to-man on the corner or I can play safety. I will play wherever they need me.”

Blanks said he gets questioned all the time about why he would want to leave Florida for a small town in the upstate of South Carolina, and he said he tells people he can't explain it to them – they have to see it for themselves.

“See, people see Clemson and they think it is a program with no foundation, and they think it is just a small-town school whose only tradition is Howard’s Rock,” he said. “What people don’t see is the type of atmosphere at Clemson, and that is one of those things that people just have to experience. I guarantee you – I didn’t think I would like Clemson and I really never thought I would even go on a visit. But I did, and it changed my whole perspective. Until somebody visits, they will continue to wonder why.”