When Clemson lost two wide receivers from the state of Georgia on the same day two weeks ago, some dubbed it “Black Monday” for the Tigers.

  However, Clemson rebounded from those disappointments on Sunday when Brookwood High School’s Kyrin Priester switched his commitment to Clemson from N.C. State.

  Priester had also been committed to UGA for a couple of months last spring. Priester was perhaps the state’s hottest prospect over the last 10 days, picking up last-minute offers from Ohio State, Auburn and Clemson, among others.

  And the 6-foot-2, 185-pounder may have a higher ceiling of potential than the two WR commits that Clemson lost – Peach County High School’s Demarcus Robinson (now enrolled at Florida) and Lassiter High School’s Ryan Jenkins (now committed to Tennessee). Some consider Priester to be the state’s No. 1 WR out of Georgia this year.

  “Clemson is just a family, it’s just a big family,” Priester told the AJC on Sunday night. “All the coaches love you. Coach (Dabo) Swinney is a Christian. It’s a great program, and it’s only going to go up from there. It’s a great opportunity for me. I feel like I can go in there and work hard for some early playing time.”

  Priester took an official visit to Clemson this weekend, and spent most of time hanging out with a pair of All-Americans, wide receiver Sammy Watkins (his host) and quarterback Tahj Boyd. Priester decided to switch his pledge before leaving campus.

  “Coach Swinney is a great guy,” Priester said. “I went there during the summer but I couldn’t do camp because of my groin injury. They don’t offer any wide receivers who don’t come to camp. (Swinney) told me this weekend that he’s liked me since Day One … because when I first got up there, nobody knew about me.

  “When I committed to Clemson, (Swinney) was like ‘We’re glad to have you. You’re going to be a big part of this offense, and we’re going to coach you up so you can go to the next level.’ He gave me a big hug after I committed and said ‘That’s amazing. Welcome to the family, and we appreciate you.’”

  Probably the biggest thing in Clemson’s favor was Mike Reed, the Clemson defensive backs coach who was hired from N.C. State. Reed was the assistant who convinced Priester to pledge to N.C. State before coach Tom O’Brien and the rest of the staff were fired on Nov. 26. Dave Doeren was named as the N.C. State’s new coach last month.

  “I didn’t commit to the new staff, and that’s why I don’t feel like what I did was wrong,” Priester said. “I didn’t commit to the new staff. I committed to Coach O’Brien, Coach Reed and the rest of that (previous) N.C. State staff whom I had a great relationship with. I think they already knew (the switch) was coming. I really didn’t get along with the new staff. I didn’t have the same connection from when I committed to N.C. State, and the (previous) coaching staff was the only reason I committed there.”

  In a last-ditch effort, N.C. State tried to talk Priester out of taking his official visit to Clemson this weekend.

  “They didn’t want me to go,” he said. “They tried to say that Clemson was using me as a backup because of Ryan Jenkins and Demarcus Robinson … they de-committed and everything. But you know, everybody has their own opinion.”

  How did Priester feel about that? “Clemson is better than N.C. State. That’s point blank, period. They play better teams. We open up with Georgia. I believe Clemson has better coaching than N.C. State, and I’ll get more exposure there. I’m just trying to make a name for myself at the next level, and help my team out. I just want to win. I want to showcase my talent. There are a lot of people that don’t know about me.”

  Priester said he is finished with recruiting and will not take an official visit to either Ohio State or Auburn next week. He’s not going anywhere before signing day. “I’m done. No more visits.”

  He also said he was very humbled by his rapid emergence among college scouts over the last two weeks. “Yes sir, it’s crazy, I feel blessed. Teams started coming out of nowhere. I guess they started losing people. But I wanted to go to Clemson from the beginning. It was the first school I visited. If I had an offer (last summer), I would’ve probably committed then. I’m blessed with how everything turned out.”

  Priester had a whirlwind recruiting journey after moving from Orlando to the Atlanta area last month. Within a month after enrolling at Brookwood, he was “discovered” and flooded with early scholarship offers. He committed to UGA in April but backed off his commitment a few months later because he felt like he “rushed” it.

  As a senior at Brookwood, Priester lived up to the hype, catching 54 passes for 1,116 yards and 12 touchdowns. He earned All-State honors.

  “He’s got great acceleration,” Brookwood coach Mark Crews said. “There are guys that are fast, and then there are guys that can cover the first 4-5 yards faster than everybody else … and have that explosiveness or whatever you want to call. He has got that burst that kind of sets him apart from everybody else.”

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