Tigers boast two top safety commitments

The Clemson football program now holds commitments from two of the top safeties in the country with last week's pledge by Devonte Holloman (6-3, 210) of Charlotte.

Earlier in the spring, the Tigers landed a commitment from Craig Loston of Aldine, Texas. Holloman knows Loston and is looking forward to roaming the secondary with him. "I think that will be scary for a lot of teams," he said.

Holloman picked the Tigers over Michigan and several others. "It just fits me as a person," he said. "There's a chance for me to play early. The defense already has some building blocks and hopefully I can be another piece of a championship defense."

Last season Holloman, who also plays quarterback for famed Independence High, had 50 tackles and two interceptions. He plans to graduate in December and enroll in January. He's the eighth commitment for Clemson's 2009 class.

In other football recruiting news:

Clemson and USC both missed out on recruiting targets who committed elsewhere last week. TE Philip Lutzenkirchen (6-4, 240) of Marietta, Ga., chose Auburn over Clemson. And WR Bryce McNeal (6-2, 175) of Minneapolis chose Michigan over the Tigers.

LB Michael Gilliard (6-1, 200) of Valdosta, Ga., committed to Georgia over USC and several other offers. WR Willie Haulstead (6-3, 200) of Titusville, Fla., committed to Florida State after considering the Gamecocks and others. And DL Eric Shrive (6-7, 296) of Scranton, Pa., who recently picked up a Gamecock offer, committed last week to Penn State.

USC assistants David Reaves, Ellis Johnson and Brad Lawing watched DE Chris Bonds (6-4, 283) of Richland Northeast workout Friday during a Cavalier spring practice. That was the second time USC was by the school this spring. RNE coach Jay Frye said some other schools recruiting Bonds to come by are Tennessee, Southern Cal, LSU, Miami, Florida State, Michigan and Notre Dame, which has been through twice. From his vantage point, Frye believes USC, Southern Cal, Michigan, Notre Dame, Alabama, Tennessee, Miami, Florida State, LSU, Virginia and Maryland constitute the lead group for Bonds right now. Frye said Bonds plans to visit Tennessee, Miami, Florida State, Notre Dame and Michigan this summer.

Richland Northeast RB Alexander Greene (5-8, 175) has picked up offers from Presbyterian, S.C. State and Air Force, according to Frye. He's also drawing interest from Duke, Vanderbilt, Army, Marshall, Alabama, Georgia Tech and East Carolina. RNE QB Derek Frost (6-1, 180) recently had surgery for a torn ACL in his left knee and won't be ready to go before September. He has been drawing interest from Louisville, Duke, Coastal Carolina, Wake Forest and Army.

Maryland and Florida are recent offers for QB Morgan Newton (6-5, 215) of Carmel, Ind., giving him a total of 16, including USC and Clemson. Newton said last week the Gamecocks and Tigers "probably" will make it when he cuts down his list. USC's Reaves watched Newton practice last Monday. "Hopefully, he got to see what he wanted to see," Newton said. Clemson quarterbacks coach Rob Spence visited the school earlier in the spring. Coaches from Maryland, Nebraska and Penn State came through late last week, and he has talked with Florida head coach Urban Meyer. Newton said he does not have favorites and is not planning to attend any camps this summer.

WR Jheranie Boyd (6-3, 185) of Gastonia, N.C., plans to visit USC on Saturday. "I plan to be there the whole day so I can see the campus," he said. USC recruiter Ray Rychleski was by his school last week and Clemson was in a couple of weeks ago. Coaches from Southern Cal, Oregon, Auburn, Maryland and Missouri also visited the school late last week. Boyd recently visited North Carolina, where he met with head coach Butch Davis. And he recently added offers from Michigan, Ohio State and Florida State. He has a final 10 in his mind and has not revealed the group, but he said USC and Clemson are in it. He plans to camp this summer at USC, Clemson and North Carolina.

Dorman OL Brandon Thomas (6-4, 280) continues to lean towards Clemson over USC and North Carolina. "It's really about the location and the atmosphere at the school," Thomas said. Clemson recruiter Billy Napier visited the school recently. Thomas plans to camp at Clemson in early June. He said a decision could come then, or he might wait until the end of the summer.

USC has offered DB Josh Hunter (6-2, 175) of Charlotte, and he has the Gamecocks and Wake Forest as his favorites. He also has offers from Duke, East Carolina, West Virginia and Marshall.

LB Roderick Blunt (6-2, 210) of Miramar, Fla., the son of former Clemson running back Rodney Blunt, has offers from USC and Purdue while Clemson is waiting to see how he comes along in the classroom according to his coach. "I think the only school he'd commit early to would be Clemson," coach Josh Shapiro said. "I just think he feels comfortable there." Blunt had about 90 tackles with 10 sacks last season.

Clemson remains strongly interested in OL Bobby Massie (6-6, 320) of Lynchburg, Va., who will attend Hargrave Prep, Va., in the fall. "They've told me that going into the recruiting season, I'm the number one person they are recruiting," Massie said. "That makes me feel good, that I'm the number one guy on their board." Massie has offers from Clemson, Alabama, UNC and Georgia. Virginia Tech also is showing interest.

Pittsburgh and Syracuse offered TE Malcolm Bush (6-5, 235) of Hackensack, N.J., last week. He also has an official offer from Connecticut and verbal offers from Clemson, Florida, Rutgers and Tennessee. Bush is expecting Clemson's Napier to visit his school this month. He will attend camps at Florida, Tennessee, Rutgers and Boston College.

LB Petey Smith (6-0, 240) of Seffner, Fla., favors Auburn right now from his more than 50 offers including Clemson and USC. Auburn signed his brother last February.

ATH Josh Robinson (5-11, 180) of Plantation, Fla., has offers from USC, Central Florida, South Florida, Troy, Ole Miss, Florida International, Purdue, Tennessee, Indiana and Kentucky. He plans to take one of his official visits to USC, but Central Florida and South Florida are his current favorites. Robinson plays receiver, cornerback and safety.

USC is evaluating OL Algernon Robinson (6-4, 287) of Battery Creek. Recruiter Shane Beamer has been by the school and the Gamecocks have invited Robinson to a camp. He's also getting interest from Clemson, North Carolina, N.C. State and Buffalo according to his coach Carlos Cave.

DL Deion Roberson (6-3, 262) of Tucker, Ga., continues to hear from Clemson but has not been offered by the Tigers. He has offers from East Carolina, West Virginia and Maryland. He's also hearing from Georgia.

Auburn has offered DB Mike Jones (6-2, 200) of Orlando, Fla., and Kentucky is close to following suit. Jones said he's hearing from USC and Clemson through the mail but has not had personal contact with recruiters. Auburn, Ohio State and Georgia Tech also are showing interest.

RB Morgan Alexander (5-11, 165) of Cartersville, Ga., just picked up an offer from Arkansas. He's getting interest from USC, Tennessee, Indiana, East Carolina, Virginia Tech and Georgia Southern.

2007 Clemson signee WR Markish Jones (6-1, 202) of Broome and Hutchinson JC, Kan., apparently has given up football to concentrate on track, according to his coach. Ryan Rhodes said Jones pulled a hamstring early in fall camp last season and redshirted, and he doesn't plan to return to the football team.

Rhodes said he's expecting Clemson defensive coordinator Vic Koenning to visit his school to check on DB Jasper Simmons (6-1, 210), OL Jamar Bass (6-4, 291) and DE Thatcher Starling (6-3, 261).

Former Conway DE Tyran Melvin (6-2, 235) is entering his sophomore season at Hutchinson JC, Kan., and has an offer from Arizona, according to Rhodes. He's also getting interest from Michigan State, Ole Miss, Kansas State and Oklahoma State.

USC plans to watch WR LaQuan Gilliard (6-0, 180) of Pinewood Prep who played last season at Summerville. According to assistant coach Dann Holland, Gilliard has offers from Auburn and Presbyterian. USC's Beamer has been by the school, and Gilliard plans to camp at USC. He's also hearing from Rhode Island, The Citadel and Wofford.

Other prospects to watch for at Pinewood Prep are TE Justin Bishop (6-5, 230), RB Melvin Lesure (5-9, 190) and sophomore DE Brice Laughlin (6-3, 267).

Basketball news

6-7 Khris Middleton of Porter-Gaud was scheduled for an unofficial visit to Texas A&M over the weekend, and he plans to visit USC on Wednesday. Middleton said he also will visit Michigan, Georgia and Saint Joseph's. He has offers from Saint Joseph's, the College of Charleston, Charlotte, Nebraska, Fordham, James Madison and SMU. He's also hearing from Oklahoma and Temple. Middleton was scouted this spring by Gamecock head coach Darrin Horn and is hopeful of an offer while on his visit. Last season, he averaged 21 points, eight rebounds and eight assists.

6-8 Kyle Phillips of White Knoll signed with Belmont Abbey earlier this month. He was all-region and all-area this season and played in the North-South Game.

6-3 Jemarcus McClinton of Chester signed with Winston-Salem State.

6-6 Amu Saaka is transferring to Furman from South Florida.

Presbyterian signed 6-0 Bok King of Fork Union Prep, Va.

Baseball news

RHP Colby Holmes (6-0, 185) of Conway committed to USC for the 2009 class.