Nation's No. 2 TE prospect happy to be a Tiger

by Nikki Hood - Staff Writer - Wed May 08 20:40:20 GMT-04:00 2013

Milan Richard Milan Richard
Tight End
6-5, 230
Savannah, GA
View Full Profile was ready to end his recruitment Wednesday evening, and did so with one phone call to Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney Dabo Swinney
Head Coach
View Full Profile .

The 4-star prospect out Savannah (GA) Calvary Day originally planned to announce his decision on June 4, but after discussions with his parents he decided that he didn’t want to prolong his recruitment any longer.

TigerNet spoke with the 6-3, 235-pounder shortly after his announcement, and he said that he was ready to end his recruitment so that he could focus on his senior season. His love of Clemson also helped make the decision easier.

“Just kind of over the last few days, I’ve been talking to my parents and we decided that Clemson is where I want to go and that’s where I am going to go,” Richard told TigerNet Wednesday evening. “They were excited about that and today I called the coaches and let them know. Knowing that I have a spot, I don’t have to worry about what I’m going to do on signing day because now I know what I’m doing. Now, I can focus on my senior season and winning as many games as possible.”

Richard is the nephew of University of Georgia great, Herschel Walker, and he picked the Tigers out of a final four of Clemson, South Carolina, Vanderbilt, and Ole Miss, and he said that he is 100-percent committed to the Tigers.

“I called Coach Swinney first. I didn’t get him when I called, so I called Coach [Jeff] Scott and he put me in contact with him,” Richard said. “He was very excited the whole time. He was fired up during the whole conversation. It’s nice to know that they are 100-percent committed to me and I’m 100-percent committed to them.”

That commitment from the coaches is what ultimately won Richard over.

“I love everything about Clemson,” he said. “I just love the family atmosphere. I love all of their coaches. The whole coaching staff is just very real. Everybody is excited is when you call and talk to you and they always have time to talk to you.”

ESPN ranks Richard as a four-star prospect and the No.2 TE for the class of 2014.

It was widely speculated that Richard might commit to Georgia until tight end prospect Jeb Blazevich committed to the Bulldogs; however Richard said he wasn’t ready to make a commitment in April.

“Not really. Of course, you don’t want to wait forever and end up going somewhere that you don’t want to go,” he said. “I wasn’t really ready to make a decision yet so I wasn’t going to be pressured into making a decision to go to Georgia just because I thought he was going to go there. Everything worked out ok. He’s a great guy and he will be a great tight end.”

As a sophomore, Richard had 27 catches for 400 yards and 5 touchdowns, and during his junior season, he caught 22 passes for 341 yards and scored 3 touchdowns.

Richard thinks he can be even more successful in offensive coordinator Chad MorrisChad Morris
Offensive Coordinator / QBs
View Full Profile ’ system, especially with friend and current Clemson commit quarterback Deshaun Watson at the helm.

“I’m very excited about playing with Deshaun. We talked about it a while back. It just kind of happened,” he said. “It wasn’t like we planned. He was just kind of like, ‘Hey, if that’s the best situation for you then let’s do it.’ It worked out where it is the best situation for me so we are going to be playing together and I’m sure it’s going to be exciting. Their offense is very similar to ours and what we do at my high school. I definitely think I can come in and learn the verbiage and try to play quickly.”

Richard is the fifth commitment for the Tigers for the 2014 recruiting cycle - joining QB Deshaun Watson, OL Taylor Hearn, RB Jae'lon Oglesby, and TE Cannon Smith.