Calvin Clements staying home, commits to Kansas
For the last five months Calvin Clements was committed to Baylor. On Tuesday night he announced a big change in his recruiting confirming he had decommitted from the Baylor program.
That opened the door for Kansas.
Clements attends Free State High right down the road from KU. He took an official visit to Kansas in June and was on campus several other times.
One of the factors came down to the way the Kansas coaches and offensive lineman Scott Fuchs handled the recruiting process. They did not pressure him to change his mind.
“They definitely gave me my space and I respect them a lot for that,” Clements said. “But we didn't talk much after I committed. Obviously, there were some little conversations, and I went to a game early in the season, but other than that, we didn't have much conversation. We never saw each other in person until just the other day.”
Clements got to know Fuchs through the early part of recruiting. Fuchs’ sons play offensive line at Free State and there were other connections.
“We definitely have had a really good relationship over the past year,” Clements said. “Then they come in, and I meet them, and I would say we immediately started forming our relationship and clicked. They sent their sons to Free State. So, I got to know his sons Hank and Jack. And then they also started coming to our church. I got to know him a lot through that and spending time going up to campus and just going on visits.”
Clements thought about his decision during the football season. Living close to KU he watched the program grow under Lance Leipold as they are headed to their first bowl game since 2008.
“I am definitely finding the value in staying local and staying around my community of support,” he said. “And this program is on the rise, and I have my vision back of playing for KU that I did in the spring and in the early summer. And I really have a lot of pride in KU and for the program. And I want to continue to see this place on the rise and continue to see more and more success. I want to be a part of it.”
He reached out to the Kansas coaches to tell him he was ready to pick the hometown school.
“There was a lot of excitement, man,” Clements said. “They were really sad when it didn't happen over the summer. But they always had a feeling, and they always left the door open that KU what could always be a place for me. And I ended up circling back around and now I'm going to continue to this call home.”
Clements was a frequent visitor to Kansas to watch practice and get to know the coaching staff before he committed to Baylor. He watched the culture change since Leipold took over the program last year.
“They are a lot of genuine coaches, a lot of fun coaches, and great personalities,” he said. “These coaches are not only a great coaching staff together, but they're also all really good friends. We're impressed with the relationships that they all have together, and the time that they and their family spend together. The type of family atmosphere that they've created within their program, and the culture that they find really important is something I want to be a part of.”
Clements is the top-ranked offensive tackle in Kansas in the latest Rivals.com state rankings. It has been a long road and was not easy making these kinds of decisions.
“It definitely feels good,” Clements said. “I feel really confident and excited. There's a lot of support behind me in this decision. Strong community of support for whatever I do. I've trusted God through this process, and he's blessed me with these amazing opportunities and being able to make this decision all thanks to him. All glory to God.”