Elite prospect promises 'shock' in Army Bowl announcement

Radley-Hiles made a couple trips to Clemson and left with a good impression of a family atmosphere.

by Brandon Rink - Staff Writer - Thursday, January 4, 2018, 12:39 PM

Brendan Radley-Hiles - Defensive Back
TigerNet: (4.75)

Height: 5-10 Weight: 183 Hometown: Bradenton, FL (IMG Academy HS) Class: 2018

ESPN:

#101 Overall, #9 ATH, #25 FL

Rivals:

#17 Overall, #2 DB, #6 FL

Scout:

#22 Overall, #4 DB, #2 FL DB

24/7:

#46 Overall, #7 CB, #8 FL

One of the more interesting nationwide recruiting battles wraps at the end of the third quarter in Saturday’s U.S. Army All-American Bowl (1 p.m. start/NBC).

And elite cornerback prospect Brendan “Bookie” Radley-Hiles promises a show.

“All I gotta say is it’s going to be a surprise. It’s going to be a shock,” Radley-Hiles said this week in San Antonio.

Radley-Hiles told reporters his decision is made and he will have six hats to pick from, with Clemson in the mix with Oklahoma, UCLA, Florida State, Nebraska and Alabama.

Radley-Hiles took official visits to all of those finalists except Alabama, with his final visit going to Florida State over Florida in a last-minute switch.

The West Coast native and IMG Academy (Fla.) product made a couple trips to Clemson - first, for the Auburn game, while he was a Nebraska commitment. A talk with Clemson coach Dabo Swinney stood out to him then.

“I had about a 45-minute talk with him and I got to talk about who I am as a person,” Radley-Hiles told TigerNet, “what I stand for, and altogether just who I am. We talked about the program. We talked about the future. We talked about what I should be doing for the game purposes. He wanted me to visualize myself in the game and not just be a regular recruit. He wanted me to make sure I could see myself making plays in big games like that.

“He's a great guy and he's cool, but he's straight to it. He's serious about his job. I understand he likes to have fun a lot, but then he's a guy that gets down to business.”

After decommitting from Nebraska shortly after an Oklahoma official visit, Radley-Hiles returned to Clemson for an official on Nov. 18 with a host of uncommitted prospects.

Radley-Hiles’ diary blog entry after the visit emphasized the family atmosphere he felt around the football program.

He will line up with the West team on Saturday opposite a host of Clemson signees on the on the East, including five-star QB Trevor Lawrence. Radley-Hiles said he’s looking forward to matching up with Clemson’s Derion Kendrick, who has flashed his skills in drills this week.

Brendan Radley-Hiles with a great PBU on a Trevor Lawrence attempt pic.twitter.com/7Bd1ZjaKyB
— Sam Spiegelman (@samspiegs) January 2, 2018

Given the “shock” value Radley-Hiles promises, Oklahoma may be the most anxious going into the announcement, as they currently have 77 percent of the projections on 247Sports’ Crystal Ball. Clemson doesn’t currently have a prediction there.