Recruiting insider speculates on why one team fell out of the race for 2025 5-star OL David Sanders Jr

A couple of notable teams didn't make the cut for Sanders, including Alabama, Clemson, and South Carolina. Sanders took official visits to each of those three schools (along with his four finalists). 

Sanders not including Clemson, specifically, came as a bit of a surprise. 

Earlier this spring, Sanders, who is from Charlotte, told On3 that he grew up rooting for Clemson. 

"Clemson has something a lot of other schools don’t," said Sanders to On3 in late March. "I grew up a diehard Clemson fan. I remember those days as a middle schooler, staying up late to watch them play in the national championship games. It’s just a very unique place and I love everything about them."

Rivals.com recruiting insider Adam Gorney speculated on Tuesday that Clemson might have faded in Sanders' recruitment due to an NIL issue. 

"It was a little surprising that Clemson didn’t make the cut (for Sanders) but that could be an NIL issue as the Tigers have faded in his recruitment," wrote Gorney. 

Sanders' focus doesn't seem to be on NIL. And his final decision almost certainly won't come down to which school cuts the biggest check. But at the same time, Sanders is one of the top recruits in the nation -- it's inevitable that he's going to receive a significant NIL deal wherever he lands (and he should). 

Clemson, though, has seemingly been unwilling to go head-to-head with other schools when it comes to NIL deals. 

With Clemson out of the mix, it looks like Ohio State and Tennessee are at the top for Sanders with Georgia and Nebraska slightly behind. 

And when it comes to who wins the battle between Ohio State and Tennessee, it's a complete toss-up. 

One thing that could work slightly in Tennessee's favor is that Knoxville is two hours closer to Charlotte than Columbus.