In late September, thanks to the help of the Clemson experts at Shakin The Southland, we published Why won't Clemson pursue JUCO recruits to fix defense? The story received a lot of recognition, and Monday, Clemson's beat writers asked Tigers head coach Dabo Swinney about the issue.
Needless to say, Swinney is frustrated. These quotes come from Travis Sawchik of The Post and Courier:
"It is a problem for us," Swinney said. "It’s not that Clemson is saying you can’t come here, it’s that you have to meet degree percentage rules and you have to be able to transfer enough hours that will count toward a degree. The problem we’ve had is having a degree program that they can fit into and become eligible. Guys will be ineligible here and eligible elsewhere. We have very few places where we can count a bunch of electives."
"I’m more of a build through the draft kind of guy," Swinney said. "I’d never want to be one of these guys that (relies on JUCOs) and we don’t have to at Clemson. … But it’s an issue."
Sawchik's article hits on many of the issues discussed in our original, including the problem created by having to compete against the likes of Florida State and South Carolina, both of which pursue players from junior colleges to fill their needs.
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