Where Clemson Stands Ahead of Carter Jones' Commitment

The Clemson Tigers and Dabo Swinney have been on a roll this past week, landing three four-star commitments from safety Jarrell Chandler (Monday), running back Gary Walker (Wednesday) and wide receiver Jamarin Simmons (Wednesday).

Now that the program has gotten hot on the recruiting trail, another four-star prospect has received multiple predictions to land with the Tigers recently. That prospect is Carter Jones, who will decide between Clemson, Penn State, Georgia and Tennessee on May 25.

He's rated a four-star recruit and ranks as the No. 414 overall player, the No. 22 interior offensive lineman and the No. 11 prospect in the state of Virginia, according to the 247Sports Composite.

Initially, Clemson was the favorite to land Jones, as he had already been on four unofficial visits before becoming one of the first recruits in the 2027 cycle to earn an offer from the program in June 2025, which quickly made him one of the Tigers' top offensive line priorities.

Following his offer, he returned to campus for the Clemson vs. LSU 2025 season-opener and the annual Elite Retreat at the beginning of March. The successful Elite Retreat visit led to Clemson247's Austin Hannon and Noles247's Kolby Crawford logging crystal ball predictions for Jones to land with the Tigers.

However, after multiple visits to Penn State in the spring, including an official on the weekend of April 11, the Nittany Lions appeared to jump ahead of the Tigers in Jones' recruitment, with On3's Chad Simmons predicting he would land with the program.

As we know, though, change can happen quickly in the recruiting process, and that's what has transpired recently. Jones went on his official visit to Georgia the weekend following his Penn State visit, and not much seemed to change in terms of his projected landing spot. But now, with his decision just four days out, Clemson has reclaimed the lead.

On Wednesday, 247 VTScoop’s Evan G. Watkins entered a crystal ball for the Tigers to land Jones, which led On3 experts Steve Wiltfong and Chad Simmons — who originally picked Penn State — to follow suit on Thursday morning, citing consistency and strong relationships. As did three more 247 experts in National Recruiting Analyst Brian Dohn, Clemson247’s Cory Fravel and Lions247’s Tyler Calvaruso.

While he still has an official visit to Tennessee scheduled for today — a program he holds a legacy connection to — Clemson carries all the momentum heading into his decision day on May 25, with his official visit to the Tigers set for May 29-31.

We've seen offensive line coach Matt Luke land a priority Virginia offensive lineman in Carter Scruggs last year, but can he do it again?

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