Top-ranked recruit takes on hype with poise, composure
ROCK HILL — The best way to describe the day here in South Carolina’s hotbed of high school football?
It shut down the Internet.
When Jadeveon Clowney walked into the South Pointe High School auditorium wearing his garnet shirt and black tie, the Wi-Fi in the room seized.
And here I thought only Hosni Mubarak could do that to the World Wide Web. The tremendous volume of tweets, blog updates and Facebook posts that followed the arrival of the nation’s top-ranked recruit did the trick for a few moments before the bandwidth caught its figurative breath.
I’m not shocked. It figures every person inside the room would rush to announce their sighting of the Rock Hill Kid via social media like tourists on Rodeo Drive who strolled past Brad Pitt.
Clowney is a movie star, a rock star and an All-American rolled into one. He’s on magazine covers. He does interviews with ESPN and has the network hold up his announcement ceremony so it can get back from commercial. He has stories published about his every move. He even has his high school coach comparing him to arguably the world’s most polarizing athlete.
“I’ve had several NFL guys — former players and coaches — say that he’s like the LeBron James of [football],” said former South Pointe coach Bobby Carroll. “He probably could go out and start in the National Football League straight out of high school.”
Is that some good, old-fashioned American hype or what? In fact, if you were to look up the word “hype” in the dictionary, Clowney’s photo would probably be right there, smiling at you.
Time will tell if Clowney will live up to the hype with his on-field performance. Having been around football for some time and spoken to others who have been in the game for much longer than I have, I tend to think he will. You never know, but I think he’ll be a star.
However, I can guarantee one thing. Clowney can and will handle the hype with striking aplomb. Simply put, the kid is one cool customer. I saw it firsthand during his signing ceremony.
He owned the room once he entered it. He remained poised the entire time. Even when the ESPN delay debacle hit, he handled it well. He didn’t look entirely comfortable up there, but he didn’t wilt under the awkward situation. Once they got up and running in Bristol, he took over like a pro.
Steve Spurrier said during his press conference Monday that Clowney has always been a “yes sir, no sir” kind of guy. And how did Clowney answer when asked after his ceremony if he was concerned fans would draw unrealistic expectations for him based off all the hype surrounding him?
“No, sir,” he said.
Did Clowney bring some of this hype onto himself? Definitely. He didn’t have to wait 12 days past National Signing Day. No one made him to go into collaboration with ESPN throughout the process. It was his choice to let the New York-based documentary film crew follow him.
“I [am not] good at saying ‘no’ right now,” Clowney said when asked about those things. “I’m going to get good.”
After the USC coaches concluded their press conference at Williams-Brice Stadium, USC assistant coach for defense Ellis Johnson was asked if he was surprised Clowney handled the hype as well as he did. The first part of what Johnson said didn’t come as a surprise.
“I felt like he likes all the group stuff and the interaction,” Johnson said. “He’s a very jovial kid; he’s got a great personality and communicates well.”
It was the second half of what was said by Johnson, however, that was most intriguing.
“I think the part he doesn’t like, as much as [you’d think] he’d like, is the actual staging,” Johnson said. “Like when he had to get up and make his decision today — he wasn’t about all the little theatrics. He was about picking up the hat and let’s go. I think sometimes he handled the give-and-take part better than the actual getting down to personal decisions and telling somebody something. It’s kind of hard for him to say ‘no’ sometimes.”
That obviously is true, the not saying 'no' part. The kid admits it, and the defensive guru he will learn under does as well. But that will come with time. He did just turn 18, after all, and there isn’t exactly a “Being the No. 1 Recruit in the Nation for Dummies” on many high school library shelves.
As for Johnson’s belief he isn’t into the glamour side of it all, Clowney could’ve fooled me with the way he handled it all during his announcement.
But then again, that’s further proof that unlike those wireless connections, the kid can handle all that’s thrown at him.