No, my position is much more reasonable. South Carolina didn't have a history of pulling in top in-state recruits either. The truth is, the top in-state talent has tended to go out of state. Yet all of a sudden, a slew of NFL-level talent shows up in this one period of time, when South Carolina was around.500, you know, like you are saying with Clemson.
I also agree with you that thing go on everywhere. I don't agree that there is something particularly sinister at Clemson. Think about it. At Clemson, you basically just have to get through Florida St every year, and you can wind up in a major bowl/playoffs. Then Clemson, unlike most other ACC schools, can offer facilities comparable to some SEC schools. Pretty good pitch to make to a recruit. Maybe change your point of view every now and then, and you might not see conspiracies around every corner.
No, I'm not stretching the comparison at all. Those players weren't coming to South Carolina before, and they haven't been coming after. You have this one glaring period that sticks out like a sore thumb.
I'm fully aware of Clemson's prior probation. It's not "some of the most aggregious institutionally sponsored violations in providing improper benefits to players ever documented by the NCAA." You have plenty of other schools that have committed equal or more serious infractions. Here's a little tidbit for you. 30 schools at the FBS level have won national championships in football. Of those 30, only one (BYU) has never been on probation.
Here's the real truth. The reason you think Clemson is cheating is because you're jealous. Your jealous Clemson has been so successful against Carolina, and your jealous that Clemson has won 2 national championships and Carolina has zero.
By the way, here's another little tidbit for you. One school in the state of South Carolina has ever been stripped of a title in football. (Hint: It's not Clemson.)
Who doesn't want to win? We may have a 5-6 year period of unprecedented success in our history, but what glares is the 20 year period between Clempson's last probation and the recent meteoric rise in recruiting culminating in a victory over Bama in the NC game. It was 6 years from the time Charlie Pell took over at Clempson to the 1981 championship season. It was 6 years from the time of Clempson's 2010 losing season/2011 recruiting anomaly to the 2016 season/2017 NC. I guess it only takes 5-6 years to contend for a NC if you can get the right players by whatever means it takes.
Your point that .... "30 schools at the FBS level have won national championships in football. Of those 30, only one (BYU) has never been on probation" proves one point only. You basically are admitting that Clempson has cheated and likely is cheating to win, and that it is ok because the other NC schools did it to win too.
GOTCHA!
We think very bad things of Clempson because Clempson has done very bad things!