Four members of Clemson’s 2026 recruiting class have recently declared their firm commitment to the program. In the past three weeks, defensive lineman Keshawn Stancil, wide receiver Naeem Burroughs, safety Kentavion Anderson, and cornerback Shavar Young Jr. — all rated as four-star prospects — posted on social media that they are shutting down their recruitment, signaling their intention to sign with Clemson on national signing day and ignore any further interest from other schools.
“I’m ALL IN. Locked in with Clemson University 1000%,” Anderson shared on X on July 30. “Big thanks to every coach who believed in me, but it’s settled now. Time to grind, achieve, and make history.”
This development brings relief to Clemson’s coaching staff and fans after a tough 2025 cycle that saw seven players decommit. Among those who flipped were notable four-star recruits such as safeties Jordan Young (now headed to Michigan) and Tae Harris (Georgia Tech), quarterback Blake Hebert (Notre Dame), cornerback Graceson Littleton (Texas), defensive lineman Isaiah Campbell (Tennessee),https://julsports.com/?p=12791&preview=true and edge rusher Bryce Davis (Duke).
The 2025 setbacks left head coach Dabo Swinney with a signing class of just 15 players, ranking 26th nationally according to the 247Sports composite rankings — his smallest and lowest-rated class since 2010 and 2017, respectively. In response, Clemson turned to the transfer portal to address roster gaps, notably adding edge rusher Will Heldt from Purdue.
These challenges also continued a trend of declining recruiting rankings for the Tigers, who dropped from No. 5 in 2021 to No. 10 in 2022, then to No. 11 in both 2023 and 2024, and finally to No. 26 last year.
Despite this, Swinney maintains that the 2025 results were an outlier, pointing to both the high number of decommitments and Clemson’s usual top-10 recruiting consistency. With key 2026 recruits now firmly on board, Clemson is poised to move past last year’s difficulties and regain momentum on the recruiting trail.