- UPDATED: Cortez McDowell apologized to UGA fans who may be upset about his comments. CLICK HERE to read
Cortez McDowell, who is considered to be state’s No. 1 prospect at safety, committed to Tennessee over Auburn and UGA on Tuesday.
It was a major recruiting victory for Tennessee, which had its heart broken when the state’s top safety from this past season, Vonn Bell (a longtime UT fan), picked Ohio State over Tennessee.
McDowell, a 6-foot-1, 200-pound safety from Locust Grove High School, had originally planned to commit on Aug. 2 but said he got “too excited” to wait any longer to reveal his college plans.
“There were a lot of reasons why I picked Tennessee, but the main one was it’s a good fit for myself – somewhere were I’m going to spend the next four or five years of my life,” McDowell said. “I felt like Tennessee is a great spot for myself, and that’s why I went with my gut feeling.”
Auburn was the runner-up for McDowell, who said it was a “close call” between the two SEC schools. “I felt like I got great vibes from both, but I felt like something special is going to happen at Tennessee. I want to be part of a good situation.”
Last Friday, McDowell made an appearance at UGA’s Dawg Night prospect camp and had a long conversation with Bulldogs coach Mark Richt.
“I had it in the back of my head that Georgia would be a good place, but I didn’t think I would be happy there at the end of the day,” McDowell said. “It’s because of the trouble the players get into, and stuff like that. I didn’t want to take that risk to be around that.”
UGA already has two safeties committed for 2014, including last Friday’s addition of 4-star Kendall Gant of Lakeland, Fla.
“I feel a connection there but then again, there were a lot of safeties already committed to them,” McDowell said. “So I just wanted to go somewhere where I could set my name in stone and compete (for playing time) early.”
The 4-star McDowell, who is also a star baseball player, said he will play both sports at Tennessee.
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