Georgia Sports Blog FanShop

March 12, 2006

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

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

I know we're thin at DT, but after this year, we're almost nonexistent at OT. Sure hope he ends up there.

I also hope he can get in this year, because he'll be more ready to play with a year in the system.

Still, a 5-star guy in mid-March. THAT'S "closing strong."

Unknown said...

Agreed. Although, note that he wants to play DE not DT.

If you remember, his brother Robert Jr was hell bent on not redshirting. So we put him out there as a 225 lb true freshman. He did OK, but it would've been to Robert's benefit (and Georgia's) if he had redshirted.

I worry that if he qualifies, he'll want to play immediately. And based on most reports he's most ready immediately for DE. He's got a ton of work to do in the weight room before he'll be ready at OT.

I think a year at Hargrave could be spectacularly beneficial to him and Georgia. We get him a year bigger and stronger without making him redshirt.

BTW - I agree with you other point. We have virtually nothing at OT in the near future.

Shack is a JR
Inman in a SR
Turner in a SR
And Bean is a FR

That's it. Makes you worry about '07 doesn't it.

Anonymous said...

What about the recent rumor that Kade may move over to the OL? He's certainly got the body for it and I'd hate to lose him off the DL, but it looks like we have a lot more bodies on the D side of the ball.

If Crawford can come in and provide quality back-up play this year (ala Owens in '05) then I don't see why not.

Anonymous said...

Quick question for anyone out there...

I don't understand the point of national signing day if players can sign letters of intent and starting the recruiting pratice much later, such as this case. Is signing day the earliest they can commit, or what? Appreciate the info. in advance.

82 said...

Is signing day the earliest they can commit, or what?

its just the earliest they can sign an actual letter, they can verbally commit in their Jr year which means the recruiting process goes on a long time before hand and in some cases a while after (ex. QC)

Unknown said...

Jordan - Herschel didn't sign until Easter.

In hoops it's like a 1-2 month window in the fall and a 2 month window in the Spring. If they don't sign during that window, then they can't sign until they actually enroll. (I think).

Technically, in football Signing day is just the first day that you can sign. Not the only day. Most kids don't want to wait until Day 2 b/c they don't want all the scholarships to be all gone.

 
Copyright 2009 Georgia Sports Blog. Powered by Blogger Blogger Templates create by Deluxe Templates. WP by Masterplan