Long time Florida State fan TE Sage Ennis (6-4 225) of Tallahassee camped at Clemson earlier this month, earned an offer from the Tigers, and that changed his entire approach to his recruiting. Florida State is is rebuild mode, and Clemson is on top of the college football mountain. That’s too much for Ennis to ignore and Monday he announced a commitment to the Tigers, their first tight end for the 2020 class and the 18th commitment overall. He announced his decision after completing a week-long trip to schools with some of his teammates.
“I’ve known for a while where I wanted to go,” Ennis said. “I really wanted to get this trip out of the way and right after the trip go ahead and get it done so everybody can know. I knew before we went on the trip that it’s where I really wanted to go. I talked with Coach Swinney about it and we both agreed to wait and do it after the trip.”
The trip gave Ennis more time to think about his decision, and more examples of major programs to compare against Clemson. He picked up an offer from Penn State on the trip.
“I thought about Clemson the whole time. It felt like home,” Ennis said. “I knew going on this trip I would really be able to open up my eyes because I would be able to see a whole bunch of different schools and it would really solidify whether Clemson was the place or not and it did. Clemson just feels like home and no other school has really made me feel like that.”
Living in the shadow of Florida State and developing into a major prospect, it was easy for outsiders to assume Ennis would stay home. And while he gave the Seminoles strong consideration, at the end of the process Ennis said Clemson offered him the better opportunity.
“It’s nothing personal against Florida State or the coaches,” he said. “I know I will catch a lot of stuff about why didn’t he go here in his own backyard, but at the end of the day I have to do what’s best for me and what’s best for my future and that’s where I feel like Clemson helps me more.”
Ennis also had offers from USC, Maryland, West Virginia, Miami, NC State, Louisville, Cincinnati, UCF, Rutgers and others.
