3-star safety commits to Clemson

Brandon Rink · Assoc. Editor / Staff Writer · Friday, June 22 2018

Ray Thornton - Safety
TigerNet: (3.36)

Height: 6-2 Weight: 198 Hometown: Phenix City, AL (Central HS) Class: 2019

ESPN:

#41 S, #19 AL

Rivals:

#51 DB, #20 AL

24/7:

#74 S, #33 AL

Three-star 2019 Phenix City, Alabama safety Ray Thornton announced a commitment to Clemson on Friday.

Thornton was a return visitor for Clemson camp this year and picked up an offer after that extra look on Thursday, joining offers from more Power 5 schools such as Auburn, Mississippi State, Ole Miss and Missouri.

"First off, I would like to thank God for blessing me with so many opportunities," Thornton said in his social media announcement. "I would like to thank all of my past coaches and most importantly all of my Central coaches. Also schools who have believed in me. This has been a long hard journey. After much consideration, I'll be furthering my education at Clemson University. Please respect my decision as my recruitment has shut down. I'M ALL IN."

Thornton totaled 44 tackles with two interceptions in his junior season. He is rated as high as the No. 33 safety in the nation by ESPN.

He was teammates with 5-star Clemson receiver signee Justyn Ross at Central High School (Ala.). Thornton's commitment marks an 11th state represented in 18 commitments for the 2019 Clemson class. Central coach Jamey Dubose gave a scouting report on his star safety after the commitment.

"Ray is so smart," Dubose told Al.com. "He understands coverages and fronts. He gets our defense lined up where it needs to be. Athletically, he's unbelievable. He's a good tackler who can roll down and play in the alley, come off the edge and blitz or roam in the secondary and go get the ball...

"Clemson has done a good job recruiting our school and they kind of found Ray in the process of recruiting Justyn. But this is a situation where Ray got an offer from the school he knew he wanted to attend. You can't blame a guy for taking advantage of that. I'm proud for he and his family."

Thornton is a third commitment in under 24 hours for Clemson, bumping the Tigers' 2019 class two spots in 247Sports' Team Composite rankings to third overall.