TCI Recruiting Roundup: Decision Day Looms for Clemson Target

The whirlwind recruitment of Cortez Mills is finally coming to a close.

The 4-star wideout (Homestead, FL) is set to announce on Monday, with Clemson, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Florida and LSU being the teams that got summer officials.

Mills picked up his offer from Clemson last summer after working out at Dabo Swinney’s high school camp and then did not return to campus until about a year later for the big official visit weekend earlier this month. Mills was scheduled to attend the spring game but a scheduling conflict scrapped those plans.

With Mills being from South Florida, and so close to Miami, the Hurricanes were long viewed as one of the favorites to land the blue-chip talent. And while Miami was scheduled to get his final official visit, Mills would cancel those plans in favor of going to LSU.

After his official to Clemson, momentum seemed to be on the Tigers’ side, with Mills saying publicly at one point that Clemson was his leader. After his visit to Oklahoma, it was readily apparent that the Sooners had made a move. The question was how much of one and was it enough to win the talented prospect over.

Throughout the weekend, multiple predictions started to come in for Mills to land at Oklahoma. In speaking to one contact that is fairly plugged in with the Sooners’ program, they also intimated they were hearing it was looking like it was going to be Oklahoma, but at the same time it was unclear if Mills had actually informed any school of a decision.

Brent Venables already has four receivers committed in the 2025 class, with two of those announcing over the past couple of weeks. It is no doubt a class with a high number of receivers and Mills’ addition, if it were to happen, would make it five.

Throughout his recruitment, Mills has been really good at not letting a whole lot of information out. Not information he didn’t want out there anyways. For example, this quote he gave to TCI earlier this month.

“I ain’t gonna really say there’s a school that’s really standing out yet,” he noted. “Because if it was, I’d be committed right now. So I’d say all the schools are equal.”

The fact that he followed through in taking all of his officials suggests that this one has been very close coming down the stretch. In his own words, if he already knew after a visit, he’d have had no problem shutting it down at that time. But he didn’t.

In the world of recruiting, nothing is ever really certain. Things aren’t always as they appear. While there are very few genuine surprises anymore, Mills’ recruitment is one that taken several turns. Maybe it takes one more, or maybe it doesn’t.

Even if Mills does end up going elsewhere, Clemson still has two more uncommitted targets on the board. 4-star Samari Reed will announce on Wednesday and 4-star Dillon Alfred, who just picked up his offer last week, told TCI he plans to have a decision made sometime before August, and is also planning on attending the All-In Cookout next month.

A limited number of signed footballs from Clemson’s 2022 class are still available. Get yours while supplies last! Visit Clemson Variety & Frame or purchase online!