If you’re a college football program on Pacific Standard Time, a very sizable talent could be yours.
Earlier today, reports surfaced that Scott Pagano had requested a release from his Clemson scholarship and intends to transfer from the Tigers. Not long after, head coach Dabo Swinney confirmed that the defensive tackle has indeed decided to leave as a graduate transfer and play his final season of collegiate eligibility elsewhere.
Below is Swinney’s statement, in its entirety:I met with Scott Pagano yesterday. We had a good talk and he told me about his intentions to be a graduate transfer for his final year of eligibility. I told him to think about it overnight.
“We all wanted him to stay, but he said he had accomplished everything he wanted to do at Clemson. He came here to graduate and win a national championship and he achieved both within the last two months.
“He indicated to me that he wants to start his graduate degree and play his final year of college football, probably on the West Coast (Pagano is from Hawaii).
“I wish him nothing but the best. Scott Pagano has been a fully committed person to the program. He has always been committed to do the best he could in everything. We will miss him and he will always be one of my players and will be a part of our Clemson family.
Coming out of high school in Hawaii as a four-star 2013 recruit, Pagano was rated as the No. 24 tackle in the country and the No. 2 player at any position in the state. Pagano received offers from, among myriad others, Arizona, Arizona State, BYU, Cal, Colorado, Oregon, Oregon State, UCLA, USC, Washington and Washington State.
Pagano started 13 games the past two seasons, four of which came in 2016.