Pagan shocks coach with Bama visit

Pagan committed to Clemson following his official visit to the campus eight days ago.

by David Hood - Senior Writer - Mon Jan 24 16:03:41 GMT-04:00 2011

CLEMSON – Asheville High head coach Danny Wilkins told TigerNet on Monday afternoon that he was surprised that defensive end Jeoffrey Pagan (6-4 250) opted to take an official visit to the University of Alabama, but he’s not surprised his former player has decided to stop talking publicly about his pending decision.

The 4-star end is rated the fourth-best at his position in the nation and the 42nd-best player overall, and he committed to Clemson following his official visit to the campus eight days ago. This past weekend, however, he surprised many by taking a trip to Tuscaloosa to check out the Crimson Tide, and he may be considering a change.

Wilkins said he will wait around with the rest of the nation to hear what the choice is.

“He told me he was going to stop talking about it,” Wilkins said Monday afternoon. “He just said he needed to take some time and make sure he makes the right decision. He went ahead and took the trip to Alabama that I didn’t think he would take, but he did. I suspect we won't know anything until Signing Day (February 2nd) or Signing Day Eve. He is taking it to the wire. But he is an 18-year old kid who can't really make a bad choice.”

Wilkins said Pagan’s choices are like having too many pretty girls to choose from.

“If you have three or four pretty girlfriends, and they are beautiful, what are you gonna do,” Wilkins said. “Which one are you going to take to the dance? I don’t know what he is going to do, and I don’t think he really does. He probably has an inclination, but if he does, he’s not letting anybody know.”

“He is like a kid in a candy store. He has a lot of choices, with a lot of good stuff. And he just has to make sure he sorts it out for himself. And he certainly can't make a bad choice. His mom doesn’t want to make the choice for him, and I don’t think anybody else does. There are no bad choices. It’s complicated when there are so many good choices.”

Wilkins said he wasn’t sure what made Pagan change his mind about taking the trip to Alabama.

“I don’t know if it’s a case of they are feeding me good, and patting me on the back and telling me how good I am or not,” he said. “Maybe he just wants to make sure he is making the right decision. And a lot of these guys doing the recruiting are very persuasive.

“We have texted a couple of times about the trip, but we haven’t really had a conversation. He called me last weekend, and he was all excited about the commitment to Clemson. So I am a little rattled myself. Here we are at the end, and I thought it was done. Now it’s obvious it may not be.”

Wilkins said the school will do a press conference for Pagan on Signing Day.