Clifton Geathers: Why he signed with UGA

The Florence, SC newspaper has an interesting interview about the commitment of Clifton Geathers, 5 star OT, to Georgia. Like his brother Robert, who also signed with Georgia, Clifton waited til after signing day to begin his visits.

Clifton says that he signed with Georgia because we worked harder in recruiting him and showed more interest in him.

Photo from his Scout.com's profile

His father agrees with this stating that neither Tommy Bowden or Steve Spurrier bothered to make an in-home recruiting visit to meet with Clifton. This despite the family's strong preference for Clifton playing in state.

Robert Sr. said he would have preferred his son to stay in-state and attend Clemson or South Carolina, but felt those schools dropped the ball.

“I was focusing on Carolina and Clemson. I was praying and hoping that a school in South Carolina would do better in recruiting him,” he said. “ ... But S.C. State recruited him harder than Clemson and Carolina”

Robert pointed out neither Tommy Bowden nor Steve Spurrier made a visit to the Geathers’ home. Spurrier’s son, Steve Jr., visited and Bowden talked to Clifton at the Shrine Bowl.

His father assumes that the state schools might have been scared off by Clifton's grades, but who is kidding who? When have South Carolina and Clemson ever been scared of a kid's grades. It's easier for at risk kids to get into either school than it is to enter UGA.

I said back in September, that the South Carolina state recruiting pool is too shallow for the Gamecocks to ever build an elite program. If they aren't going to recruit the state's #1 player, they really have no shot at greatness. No matter who the coach is.

Anyway, the kid is an elite prospect and after a year at Hargrave he'll be ready to go. The only issues surrounding him are (A) he hasn't actually signed his Letter of Intent, which isn't a huge deal if he's going to Hargrave and (B) he says that Georgia is going to give him his first shot at defensive end. We probably need him more at OT. Luckily, that sort of thing always sorts itself out.

pwd

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