Clemson appears to be favorite to land top NC prospect. He’ll decide this month
Four-star defensive tackle Payton Page of Greensboro, North Carolina has hit his month of decision.
Page (6-4, 335) has said he would announce his choice from among Clemson, North Carolina and Tennessee in July. Tuesday night he said he still doesn’t have a date set, but he’s looking at the end of the month with the announcement to be made at an event at his school.
Clemson is clearly the favorite to land Page by those who predict commitments. All of the experts who have logged a 247Sports Crystal Ball and Rivals FutureCast predictions have done so for the Tigers. Rivals considers Page the top prospect in North Carolina.
Clemson has made it clear to Page that he is the one and only defensive tackle they want for the 2021 class. Todd Bates has been his Clemson recruiter, and they talk on a regular basis. Page said their relationship dating back three years is key in this case.
“We really don’t talk about football like that,” Page said. “It’s more like, how’s my family doing, nore personal stuff. We’ve been talking a lot of football like since my freshman year. We’re real close since since we’ve been talking since I was young, but that’s like with all my schools.”
Page added that Bates’ approach to recruiting him, as well as that of Dabo Swinney and other Clemson assistants, is another reason he has held the Tigers in high regard.
“Their consistency,” Page said. “Usually a coach will text you and you might have a whole conversation one day and won’t have any for another month. I see in that coach’s eyes that I’m just another recruit and he’s just not trying to get a bond with me. He’s just doing a job, I guess.”
Page is good enough at his craft that he knows his playing time at any of the schools will come. He also knows each has great facilities and all the other parts needed to be successful. So as he works on his decision for the next few weeks, he is looking at something else to drive home the answer.
“Where I’m comfortable at,” Page said. “Wherever I’m comfortable at and where my family is comfortable. I’ve already been multiple times to my top three schools. It’s on my mind a lot, but it’s not keeping up at night. I guess it will probably do that a week before I commit though. I’m probably going to feel real bad the week before I commit. I probably won’t sleep at night.”
Page did get the chance to visit each of his finalists before the coronavirus-induced recruiting dead period. He was at Clemson in January, North Carolina in February and Tennessee in early March.
Page said he will notify the school he chooses in advance of his announcement day. And why is Page considered such a strong prospect at defensive tackle playing anywhere from 0 to 4 technique? Twenty-six of his 71 tackles last season were behind the line of scrimmage. He also recorded three sacks.
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 9:26 AM with the headline "Clemson appears to be favorite to land top NC prospect. He’ll decide this month."