Clemson Football just awarded the first official scholarship offers for the Class of 2025 a few weeks ago, and they already have a verbal commitment. Not only is it great to start the class off so quickly, but the position of the player makes it particularly satisfying.
Gideon Davidson announced his commitment to running backs coach CJ Spiller and the Clemson Tigers on Wednesday. He is 6’-0” and 193 pounds. Davidson is a rising junior at Liberty Christian Academy, located in Lynchburg, Virginia.
Receiving a verbal commitment from a player as highly regarded as Davidson is exciting for fans. He is rated as a 4-star prospect in the 247Sports Composite. He is a Top 100 player (67th overall). He is ranked as the 4th best running back nationally, and the 2nd best player in the state of Virginia.
It’s Davidson’s position that is notable for Tiger fans who follow recruiting. Coach Spiller was beloved as a player, but many have been critical of Clemson’s recruiting of running backs in the past few seasons. The Tigers found it difficult to attract well-regarded running back recruits for their 2022 and 2023 classes.
Clemson Lands Commitment From Highly-Rated 4-Star RB Gideon Davidson https://t.co/1m1FZVjxrz
— Jason Priester (@JP_Priester) June 14, 2023
While multiple factors can be cited why running back recruiting was less than stellar in those two classes, much of the criticism has been focused on Spiller and his relative inexperience as a college football coach.
Spiller responded with a solid recruiting win in the Class of 2024 by getting a verbal commitment from David Eziomume, a 4-star prospect from Kennesaw, Georgia. Spiller has now landed the first Top 100 running back recruit in his career at Clemson, and his timing couldn’t be better.
The Tigers will feature both Will Shipley and Phil Mafah on the field in 2023, but both players will be eligible to leave early for the NFL if they should choose to turn pro. Barring an injury that costs one of them most of the 2023 season, we know both Shipley and Mafah will have exhausted their college eligibility by the end of the 2024 season.
(We should note that Spiller was a graduate assistant at Clemson when Shipley, a 5-star prospect, verbally committed, but Spiller was not promoted to running backs coach until nine months later)
Clemson Football will have two 4-star prospects at running back when the 2025 season begins
The Tigers now know that they will have two talented options in the backfield with Eziomume and Davidson when they start the 2025 season, along with a few other players who will have multiple seasons in their system.
Hudl does not have Davidson’s sophomore highlights yet, but you can see quickly from his freshman highlights why he was been a target of Power Five programs and recruiting services. Not only does he have elite speed, but also very good vision for a young running back.
Davidson will need to add weight to be effective at the Power Five level, but with two more seasons in high school remaining, he may be able to bulk up before he arrives at Clemson.
The best part of Davidson’s commitment for Tiger fans? Clemson now has a Top 100 player as a cornerstone for the 2025 class, which will help attract more talent as the cycle continues.
Some of that talent might be arriving soon. 2025 4-star quarterback Blake Hebert will announce his verbal commitment Friday. He recently received a Clemson offer.