Center Ryan Linthicum (6-4 275) of Damascus, MD Monday announced a commitment to Clemson giving the Tigers one of the top players in the country at that position for the 2021 class. Linthicum is a teammate of Clemson 2020 commitment DE Bryan Bresee. He had narrowed his recruiting to Clemson, Virginia Tech and Michigan. He was back at Clemson Saturday night for the Charlotte game, so it didn’t take him long to finalize a decision after seeing the school and program up close again.

“I wanted to visit and make sure they are a good fit for me,” Linthicum said.  “We talked to Coach (Todd) Bates, talked to Coach (Robbie) Caldwell and then talked to Coach (Dabo) Swinney a little bit before the game. That was awesome. Coach Swinney is just a great guy and it was good to talk to them.”

Linthicum also talked with a number of other recruits, some already committed to the Tigers, and that went a long way in influencing his decision.

“I loved talking to all of the commits there. It was just crazy. They are all awesome guys,” Linthicum said.” I was hanging out with Mitchell (Mayes) and he is such a good guy, really down to earth. We can talk about other things than just football. I talked to him and Sergio (Allen) a little bit and it was awesome. It’s also awesome that I get to share this with my high school teammate, a guy I will play college football with.”

Linthicum also liked the fact the Tigers used 111 players in Saturday’s game. The early playing opportunity when he arrives is important to him.

“That means a lot. It just says so much about all of them, honestly and how they love their players,” Linthicum said. “And if you work your tail off, you will get some PT (playing time).”

Linthicum is the Tigers’ fourth commitment for the 2021 class and the first for the offensive line in that class. Clemson will lose starting center Sean Pollard after this season. Junior Cade Stewart is the backup and there are two freshmen centers on the roster in Mason Trotter and Hunter Rayburn.