Months after facing each other in the national championship game, Clemson and LSU are once again doing battle on the recruiting trail. Clemson and LSU are among the final five schools in consideration for Caleb Williams, the nation’s top-ranked quarterback in the Class of 2021. Williams revealed his top five schools on Monday. Oklahoma, Penn State, and Maryland were the other three remaining in the hunt, according to Williams.
Williams shared his top five with a post on his Twitter account and explained his thinking in this stage of the process on Sports Illustrated. The dual-threat quarterback from Washington D.C. has had to cancel official recruiting trips to both Maryland and Penn State due to the ongoing coronavirus outbreak and the NCAA shutting down all recruiting activities as a precaution.
“We were going up to Penn State on the Monday following Easter and we’re going to make it over to see Coach (Mike) Locksley,” Williams’ father, Carl Williams, told 247 Sports. “I talked to Locksley back and forth and as soon as it’s legal we’re going to do it.”
A planned trip to Oklahoma has also been put on hold due to the pandemic, but one will be rescheduled at a later time. Recruiting experts seem to suggest Oklahoma is a rising favorite to eventually land Williams. And given the recent track record of Oklahoma and head coach Lincoln Riley, it is easy to see why that may be the case.
“Their history and what Coach [Lincoln Riley] has done these past three years—[Baker Mayfield] to [Kyler Murray] then to Jalen Hurts, then to whoever else is next and then maybe me,” Williams explained in his post on Sports Illustrated.
Final 5.
— Caleb Williams (@CALEBcsw) March 23, 2020
Clemson University #ALLIN
Louisiana State University#GeauxTigers
University of Maryland#Terps
Penn State university#WeAre
University of Oklahoma #BoomerSooner pic.twitter.com/E5U3pMPrGn