Oh yeah, this will end well.
Coming out of high school in New Jersey, Rashan Gary was the consensus No. 1 recruit in the Class of 2016. He had whittled his myriad scholarship offers down to Clemson and Michigan in the days leading into National Signing Day this past February, ultimately opting to sign with the Wolverines over the Tigers.
In the days leading up to signing day, an alleged Clemson fan made a rather “odd” recruiting pitch to the star prospect. Allegedly.
From northjersey.com:The phone message left at the Paramus Catholic athletic department was delivered in a thick, Southern drawl and with a thinly veiled threat.
“If you’re coming down here, you gotta do just like the KKK and be serious about your football. Clemson and the KKK, the two things we love the most,” the caller said.
The target of the voice mail, which came at approximately 2:30 a.m. on Jan. 28, was Paramus Catholic star Rashan Gary. It was made the day before the defensive lineman took an official visit to Clemson.
The man who left the message identified himself twice during the 58-second voice mail only as “Clemson Dan.”
...
“So you better not be fooling around, if you’re gonna get a visit, you better be commitin’,” “Clemson Dan” said on the voice mail.
“So, just be aware, this ain’t no fooling thing. We Clemson. We big-time football down here.
The Paramus Police Department is currently investigating the incident, having “issued search warrants to the phone company in an attempt to find the number,” the website wrote. For her part, Jennifer Coney, Gary’s mother, doesn’t believe the unknown caller was actually a Clemson fan, but that the message was disturbing nonetheless.
“They wouldn’t have done that, being that we’re black people from the North. Why would you say that I’m ‘Clemson Dan’ and say something about threatening from the Ku Klux Klan and we’re serious down here?” Coney said. “I would think that there was somebody who didn’t want Rashan to consider Clemson. ...
“I took the time to let everybody listen to the voice mail. And I’m telling you, everybody appeared shocked. They appeared distraught, like this is unbelievable.”
Yep, recruiting. Or ‘crootin’, in this case.
