If UGA is to have a shot at the “state’s hottest prospect,” the Bulldogs have to get him on campus.
And that's looking more like a possibility after UGA coach Mark Richt personally reached out to Chris Williamson and his father over the telephone this week.
As things stand right now, the 6-foot-1 defensive back from Gainesville High School will likely at least take a one-day midweek visit to UGA next week. And there’s also a possibility that Williamson could bump out Florida for the Bulldogs with his final official weekend visit on Jan. 30.
UGA’s Mark Richt (AJC)
“We’d like to get up to UGA for a visit, and my family is talking that over,” Williamson told the AJC on Tuesday night.
The last few weeks have been a whirlwind recruiting journey for Williamson, who got late offers this month from a dozen schools, including UGA, Florida, Notre Dame, Michigan and Auburn.
Williamson visited North Carolina last weekend, and he’ll go to Michigan this weekend. In fact, he and his family had an in-home visit with Michigan coaches on late Tuesday night in advance of the trip.
Back to UGA: Williamson has yet to set a visit date, which has obviously concerned the Bulldogs. But things might be moving forward after Richt got personally involved with a phone call.
“My dad and I talked to Coach Richt yesterday, and it went really well,” Williamson said. “He let me know that he would love to get me on campus. I know (UGA commit) Darius Slayton really well, and (Richt) talked to me about being roommates at Georgia with Darius.
What else did Richt say? “He wants me to come to UGA on the Jan. 30 weekend, which is when I’m going to Florida. We didn’t tell him we couldn’t because with the Florida visit, we’re still looking at that one. We didn’t make any promises that we were coming to UGA on that weekend. We told him that we’d talk about it as a family.”
What is holding up things with Florida? “We’ve been looking at the depth chart and stuff like that,” he said.
Williamson will make a final decision on his visit plans for next week after he returns from this weekend’s Michigan trip. He’s also considering a midweek visit to Auburn.
“You know, they’ve got good academics and a good history of winning at Auburn,” he said. “They’ve got a real good staff now. I’ve just heard a lot about the atmosphere at Auburn. I wouldn’t mind going down there and taking a look.”
Coaches from North Carolina and Cal are expected to stop by Gainesville on Wednesday, while UGA assistant Jeremy Pruitt may be there on Thursday.
