Four-star linebacker Jaren Kanak commits to Clemson, explains decision
CLEMSON — Clemson had no defensive commits for the class of 2022 two months ago.
The Tigers now have some of the best defensive talent in the country on their commitment list.
Clemson landed a commitment from linebacker Jaren Kanak on Friday night, beating out Alabama, Michigan, Florida, Georgia and others for the four-star prospect.
Kanak is Clemson’s 12th commit for the class of 2022 and the second of the week, joining five-star cornerback Jeadyn Lukus. Kanak spoke with ClemsonSports.com about his decision.
“It feels great,” Kanak said. “It’s been an amazing journey, and I feel really blessed to be in this position. I’ve enjoyed every second of it, and I’m very happy with the decision I made.”
Kanak was offered by Clemson on June 1 and camped with the Tigers the same week.
He was impressive while working out in front of Brent Venables and was Clemson’s top linebacker target in this class.
Kanak said that after visiting Clemson, he was pretty set on becoming a Tiger.
“Clemson’s always been a dream school of mine, and I wanted to make sure it was the right place for me,” Kanak said. “After my visit, I was pretty much convinced. From that moment on, I was asking myself, ‘Can any other schools offer as much as they could?’ There was no other school that stacked up like they did.”
Linebacker Jaren Kanak (right) impressed at Dabo Swinney football camp. (Matt Connolly/ClemsonSports.com)
Jaren Kanak, who is from Hays, Kansas, was a bit under the radar as a recruit before running a 10.37 100-meter this spring. He got plenty of attention after that and continued to impress as he went around to schools working out this summer.
“I’m just a kid from western Kansas so maybe I didn’t get the attention a lot of other kids might,” he said. “When I ran that 10.37 in the 100 that’s when things really kind of blew up from there. That’s when people started realizing I had speed like that.”
Even with his elite speed, he will play linebacker at the next level.
The Tigers are losing James Skalski and Baylon Spector after this year, and Kanak should be able to come in and at least help on special teams early on in his career.
He is rated as a four-star recruit, the No. 10 athlete and No. 221 overall player in the country, according to the 247Sports Composite rankings.
“I’m gonna be a linebacker at Clemson. Coach Venables is an amazing defensive coordinator and linebackers coach,” Kanak said. “There’s a lot of things he can do with his linebackers. They wanna use me as a versatile guy who can be used all over, just like Isaiah Simmons.”
Now that Kanak is a part of Clemson’s class, he’s ready to recruit other top prospects to join him in Clemson. The Tigers have been crushing it on the recruiting trail lately with eight commits in the last two months to move into the top 10 in the 247Sports Composite rankings.
“I just committed this morning so I haven’t had a ton of time to figure out the guys we’re going after,” Kanak said. “But on that same token, I’m gonna start building relationships with the guys who are committed and figure out who we need. I’ll definitely be helping out with recruiting.”