Dunwoody High School's Nick Buchanan, who is one of the state's hottest college football prospects, is doing a dairy with the AJC leading up to next Wednesday's signing day.
The 6-foot-4, 280-pound offensive lineman committed to Cal last month, but got offers from UGA, Florida, South Carolina and Penn State within the last couple of weeks. Buchanan, who took an official visit with the Bulldogs last weekend, talked to the AJC about Tuesday’s recruiting news.
OL Nick Buchanan (AJC)
“(Florida offensive line coach Frank Summers) came by my school today. It was mostly small talk. He told me he was coming to my house later with (Florida coach Jim McElwain). They got there around 7:30 p.m. to meet with my mother, my father and me. It was my first time meeting Coach McElwain, and I liked him. He’s a real high-energy guy, and you can tell that he knows what he is talking about. You can tell he’s going to come in and really change the program. He stayed for about an hour.
“The funniest part of the conversation was when my dad was telling (McElwain) about a new sports drink coming out. My dad wants to try it, and he told (McElwain) that he would bring him some when we go to Florida this weekend on an official visit. (McElwain) was like ‘Thanks, but that might a good idea. Gatorade originated at Florida, so you can’t drink other sports drinks other than Gatorade down there.’ Everybody laughed when he said that. But the visit went well. Coach McElwain was excited that I was going to visit there. He already knew that I was coming there this weekend for an official visit because we had already planned it out a little bit with (his assistant).
“I did not talk to Cal today but I got a call from UGA. They are going to come to my house around 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. It’s (offensive line coach Rob) Sale and (offensive coordinator Brian) Schottenheimer coming. Before I left UGA on Sunday, Coach Richt had told me that they were bringing in another offensive lineman for a midweek visit this week. Coach Richt wanted me to be aware of the situation because if the midweek guy committed, then there wouldn’t be a spot for me.
“When I talked to UGA today, they didn’t mention anything about that to me. I still feel the same about the situation. I’m 100-percent committed to Cal, but I’m listening to what other people have to say. I have some things to think about. If the offer is not there, then it wasn’t meant to be. Then I would move on to the next option. So I’m going to Florida this weekend. I told South Carolina and Penn State I wasn’t going there this weekend yesterday.”
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