Clemson coaches make final push for National Signing Day

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Feb 01 00:05:40 GMT-04:00 2010

Clemson Tiger coaches wrapped up a strong week of recruiting as Sunday entered recruiting’s Quiet Period, and now wait for Wednesday’s National Signing Day and what Clemson coaches hope will be a stellar 2010 recruiting class.

The big suspense centering on signing day revolves around Greensboro, N.C.’s Keenan Allen and his brother, former University of Buffalo quarterback Zach Maynard. The Tigers are also waiting to hear from RB D.J. Howard, LB Darius Lipford, TE Ethan Farmer and LB Justin Parker.

Here is what we know on all of the prospects listed above:

Allen and Maynard – The brothers took an official visit to Cal this weekend, but we haven’t seen anything official on how the visit went. However, it looks as if this one, at least for Allen, is going to come down to Clemson and Alabama. Hopefully, the Tigers have an edge because they were the first ones to step in an offer Maynard after he asked for a release from his scholarship at Buffalo.

Justin Parker – the Beaufort linebacker took one last official visit, to LSU, but the general feeling is that he will sign with Clemson on Wednesday. Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney, defensive line coach Dan Brooks and Kevin Steele spent a considerable amount of time with Parker on Saturday in Beaufort.

Ethan Farmer – Dan Brooks stopped in North Carolina on Thursday and spent time with Farmer, the TE prospect. All reports say that Farmer enjoyed his visit with Brooks, but will still probably sign with the Tar Heels on Wednesday.

Darius Lipford - Same as with Farmer, he took a visit with Brooks on Thursday, but still appears to favor the Tar Heels.

D.J. Howard – This one is interesting. Howard had committed to Auburn, and Clemson came on late. Now it appears, however, that Howard has said Auburn is off his list and after visiting Kentucky this past weekend, it appears that his decision will come down to the Music City Bowl participants. Howard said late on Sunday night that he has made his decision, but would not let me know what he had decided. He will make his decision know at 11 a.m. on NSD.