Roquan Smith, who has gained national notoriety since last week's signing day, is headed to UGA, his coach told the AJC.
The 4-star linebacker from Macon County High School committed to UGA on Friday morning over UCLA, Texas A&M and Michigan.
"The prodigal son stays home!" Macon County coach Larry Harold said in a text message. "Roquan Smith signs grant-in-aid papers to attend UGA!"
ILB Roquan Smith (AJC)
Smith signed his scholarship or grant-in-aid papers with UGA on Friday, but has famously declined to sign a binding national letter of intent after nearly getting burned by UCLA last week.
The 6-foot-2, 205-pounder is believed to be the first big-time football prospect in recruiting history to opt against signing an NLI – which could change the landscape of football recruiting.
Smith is finished with his recruiting after Friday’s announcement, according to his coach. He will be counted as an official UGA recruit when he attends his first day of college classes this summer.
With the addition of Smith, UGA now has 29 members of its 2015 class. The Bulldogs could move up from the No. 9 spot in the national rankings after Smith is figured in.
Last Wednesday, Smith committed to UCLA over UGA in front of ESPN cameras. But he decided against turning in his NLI after reports surfaced later that day that Bruins defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich had accepted a job with the NFL's Atlanta Falcons.
Smith said Ulbrich had told him on the eve of signing day that he had “declined” the job offer from the Falcons, per UGASports. On Thursday, Ulbrich (now with the Falcons) declined comment to the AJC about Smith’s claim.
New Falcons LB coach Jeff Ulbrich (AP file)
After nearly getting burned by UCLA, Smith turned the recruiting world upside down by revealing that he would not sign the NLI, the NCAA document which was called the "worst contract in American sports" by Sports Illustrated this week.
Smith’s innovative strategy has been discussed nationally over the last 10 days.
Smith was labeled as "revolutionary" in a Thursday column by CBSSports.com's Dennis Dodd, while the Washington Post wrote an article with the headline of "How Roquan Smith might end up empowering future high school football stars."
One of Georgia's top high school coaches was asked about Smith this week, and he mentioned the name of Curt Flood, who is legendary for opening the door for free agency in professional baseball.
- Roquan Smith is set to make history by becoming the first high-profile football recruit to not sign a NLI. It has happened before in other sports, most notably college basketball.
- College football prospects sign two sets of papers during the signing period: A NLI (which binds the recruit to the college) and a grant-in-aid (which binds the college to the recruit). Roquan will only sign the grant-in-aid.
- Technically, because he isn't going to sign the NLI, Smith will be a free agent until he attends his first day of college classes at UGA. At that point, he will officially be counted as a UGA recruit.
- The national signing period for high school players to sign a NLI goes from Feb. 4 to April 1. If a senior high schooler accepts a football scholarship after April 1, he can only sign grant-in-aid papers.
- UGA will be able to publicly comment on Smith once he faxes in his grant-in-aid paperwork, per NCAA rules.
