Some extras from the story I wrote about Georgia Tech signee Kenderius Whitehead for the paper and myajc, mostly from his coach at Georgia Military College, Bert Williams.
1. Whitehead played at Monroe Area High with Stephon Tuitt, whom Tech nearly landed before he switched to Notre Dame and became an All-American. The two were good friends, and Whitehead came up to Tech with Tuitt on visits before Tech began recruiting Whitehead also. Whitehead transferred to M.L. King High for his senior season.
2. Coming out of high school, Whitehead was ranked the No. 25 weakside defensive end in the country, according to Rivals, and had offers from Tech, Georgia, Clemson, Notre Dame, Penn State and Tennessee among other schools and picked N.C. State over Clemson and Georgia.
He redshirted in 2012 and left after the season for personal reasons and enrolled at GMC in the summer. He helped lead GMC to the national junior college championship game and had 36 tackles and 7.5 sacks.
3. As you might expect, Whitehead's coach is pretty high on him.
Said Williams, “He’s got a great motor when he’s out there on the field. He runs exceptionally well and plays hard. He’s good about playing snap to whistle all the time out there. Probably the best thing he has, as far as his best tool, just a great get-off coming out of his stance. He can get upfield in a hurry. He’s a true edge-threat type of guy.”
4. He'll play the rush-end position that has been vacated by Jeremiah Attaochu. Signees KeShun Freeman, Antonio Simmons and Tyler Merriweather are also possibilities. On the roster, Tyler Stargel and Patrick Gamble could be used there also.
5. Whitehead is listed at 6-foot-5 and 220 pounds. (Whitehead said he was 6-foot-4.) Williams said he "could handle a good 20, 25 pounds and not even think about losing a bit of speed or quickness. He's got such a broad frame across his shoulders and all that."
Whitehead will be at GMC at least until May and continue to work out. “Our goal is to try to put some additional mass on him before he gets to Tech.”
6. Whitehead is the first Tech signee who will join Tech after playing at a two-year school since Durant Brooks in 2005. Brooks also came from GMC and went on to win the Ray Guy Award in 2007.
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