ASU Narrowly Misses Commitment from 2022 DL Jacarius Clayton

Clayton recently decommitted from Mississippi State prior to selecting Ole Miss over Arizona State.

The Arizona State Sun Devils narrowly missed another opportunity to add to their 2022 recruiting class on Friday, as defensive lineman Jacarius Clayton announced via his twitter page the final decision to commit to Ole Miss. The Sun Devils stayed in the hunt all the way to the end, even hosting Clayton for an official visit four days before his decommitment from Mississippi State on June 17.

Clayton listed Oregon, Indiana, Memphis, Arizona State and Ole Miss in his top five prior to narrowing his top two choices to Arizona State and Ole Miss only days before his final decision. Clayton was highly likely to commit to the Rebels, with an overwhelming majority of recruiting analysts predicting Clayton to stay within his home state of Mississippi. 

Clayton, playing for Tupelo High School, stands at nearly 6-foot-7 with 275 pounds to his frame. Clayton possesses the ideal size for a defensive tackle at the college level, collecting small interest from top programs such as Alabama, LSU, Notre Dame and others. 

The Sun Devils currently have six verbal commitments for the class of 2022, with defensive lineman Syncere Massey from Cedar Hill, Tex., prevailing as ASU's sole commit on either side of the trenches. Matthew Pola-Mao, transferring to the Sun Devils from Kansas State, was Arizona State's lone classified defensive lineman brought in from the class of 2021. The Sun Devils currently have nearly 40 offers to defensive linemen in the 2022 class who have yet to verbally commit to a school.

Donnie Druin is a Deputy Editor with AllSunDevils. Follow Donnie on Twitter @DonnieDruin, and AllSunDevils @AllSunDevils.