Clemson football: How does the class of 2023 compare to past recruiting classes?

Star-Ratings

For this review, I am going to use the 247 Composite because it is a combination of most of the major recruiting services.  We also need to remember that this class is incomplete – it currently has 14 commits, and I think it will likely get to at least 20, maybe more.

This is how the star ratings breakdown for Clemson’s last ten classes (high school recruits only). For perspective, the Class of 2014 is the class that included Deshaun Watson.

The orange cells highlight the largest total for each class. For most of the past decade, Clemson has had more 4-star recruits than they have any other rating. The exceptions are 2015 and 2019, when they had more 3-stars, and last year’s Class of 2022, which ended up with several 2-stars. That class is an outlier because four highly regarded recruits de-committed following the staff turnover after the regular season.

At first glance, the Class of 2023 seems to be keeping pace with the quantity of 4-star commitments. The standout classes are 2018 & 2020, which shouldn’t come as a surprise. Typically, teams see their biggest boost from great seasons in the class recruited the following year.

For example: Clemson won the national title in 2016. The class recruited during the 2016 is the Class of 2017. That class is mostly constructed before Clemson even played Alabama for the Natty. It’s actually the Class of 2018 that is recruited in calendar year 2017, when Clemson was defending champion.

As a rule of thumb, if you do well in year X, you can expect big things in the Class of X+2.

2018 & 2020 both saw the benefits of championships, with five 5-star recruits in each of those classes. Classes from non-championship years shouldn’t really be expected to live to that standard.

Are all 4-stars made equal? How many kids get a 4-star rating?