Derion Kendrick commits to play college football at Clemson

Derion Kendrick committed Saturday night to play college football at Clemson.

The South Pointe junior athlete - The Herald’s 2016 All-Area player of the year - was one of a number of highly touted prospects visiting the national champions this weekend. Stallions coach Strait Herron called from Florida alerting some media that Kendrick was meeting with Clemson coaches Saturday night and that he might commit, and that was confirmed when Kendrick made the offer public on Twitter.

In his first season playing quarterback, Kendrick completed 63 percent of his passes for nearly 3,400 yards and 37 touchdowns. The four-star recruit also ran for eight more and was named Region 3-4A player of the year, WSOC-TV’s Big 22 player of the year, the Tri-County Coaches Association’s 4A, 5A offensive player of the year, and MaxPreps named him a junior All-American.

Kendrick, ranked second in the state’s 2018 class, will more than likely play receiver or defensive back in college. The 6-foot-1, 195-pound three-time state champion still has other offers from South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Oklahoma, North Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Penn State, Georgia, Notre Dame, Virginia Tech and several others.

Highlights from South Pointe’s state championship win over Hartsville, in which Kendrick threw five touchdown passes:

This story was originally published January 28, 2017 at 8:45 PM with the headline "Derion Kendrick commits to play college football at Clemson."