Isaac McDonald, a tight end and outside linebacker recruit from Hialeah (Fla.) Champagnat Catholic School, was dropped Tuesday by Clemson, just three months after the Tigers accepted his commitment. The reason?
Clemson, like all colleges, is prohibited from commenting on recruits. But McDonald's coach, Jon Drummond, is not. And he took to Twitter to explain the situation.
@JimmyDSmith man a coach today tried me and one of my kids.....oh hell naw. Stay tuned for something tomorrow. Weak add Clemson
Basically, Drummond is saying that Clemson decided to drop McDonald because Drummond took him or planned to take him on visits to other schools. Verbal commitments are non-binding on either the school or the player, and Clemson is completely within its rights to drop McDonald.
Whether Clemson had the right to do this is different than the question of whether it was the right thing to do. If Clemson told McDonald that he would be dropped for taking other visits, I have no problem with this. If they did not, it is not a good precedent to set.
I have heard that there may be more to this story, but at this point I am not comfortable putting it out there without verification from another source.
In any case, McDonald is now back on the market. He has several nice offers, though I am not sure of the validity of each claimed offer.
Clemson sits at six commitments for the class of 2013.
