All-American safety Ta’Shawn Poole shares candid assessment of his recruiting
Howard High safety Ta’Shawn Poole will make his college decision Friday. He’s arguably the best player the city of Macon has produced in the last generation, if not longer.
That’s just one of many reasons to pay attention to the decision by the No. 5 player in Georgia this week.
There’s also the following:
- Poole is the highest-ranked undecided prospect in the state that has yet to make his commitment. He’s the only one of the state’s Top 15 recruits still undecided.
- He’s down to Florida State, Georgia and Tennessee, with the Bulldogs closing like an Erling Haaland World Cup run down the pitch this summer
- Poole made the sort of impact in his community that led the Macon-Bibb County Commission to declare a “Ta’Shawn Poole Day” and hand him a key to the city.
- He’s the nation’s No. 5 safety and No. 68 overall prospect for 2027 on the 247Sports Composite. The Rivals Industry Ranking has him as the No. 5 safety and No. 75 overall.
- The 6-foot-1, 195-pound rising senior was named to the Under Armour All-American team last year as a junior.
- Poole represents Georgia’s best remaining chance to add another Top 75 overall prospect (per the 247Sports Composite) to its 2027 class. The Bulldogs only have two commits ranked that highly at this time.
- He has a strong family tie to Florida State. His aunt, Latavia Coleman, was the first WNBA draft pick in the history for the Seminoles’ women’s basketball program in 2000. She’s now the athletic director at Howard High.
- Loyalty stands out. He’s competing in a GHSA world where players jump from school to school as if they were AAU basketball teams. It means something to him to play for his school, even if his Huskies have only won 11 games since he’s been in high school, including a 2-8 season last fall.
With his recruiting decision commanding the spotlight, it was interesting to hear what he had to say recently about his three finalists. Elite recruits typically share bushels of positivity about their finalists in the lead-up. Poole was quite candid about the pros and cons of each school.
He shared the following cons:
- Florida State: “I don’t know if they are going to win or not.”
- Georgia: “I don’t want to be in Georgia. ... I don’t know if I want to live in Georgia.”
- Tennessee: “I don’t have a con with Tennessee.”
How does Ta’Shawn Poole feel about Georgia?
The Bulldogs have been a hot-and-cold school for him the last six months? It seems the program has made up a lot of ground since he took his official visit June 19.
“I would say from the outside looking in, that would be the way to look at it,” he said. “Because I had a visit with Miami at first before Georgia, but they ended up taking a safety before me.”
There are a lot of UGA fans in his family circle. Especially his father.
“I was forced to be a Dawg fan,” he said.
Yet things got a little more real when he put on Georgia gear for his official visit photo shoot.
“Oh, it felt good being in that red, black and white,” he said. “Knowing that it was the hometown school is what it is all about for real.”
What’s the biggest reason why he’d choose the Bulldogs?
“The hometown school man,” Poole said. “I just know the DawgNation and the fans and the people around me that would support them. The winning. The culture and coach Kirby Smart. Coach Kirby. The head coach.”
The Bulldogs have a plan for him.
“Just to get me through to the league,” he said. “The same thing they’ve had with all the safeties that have been through up there. I just know that I’d get to the league if I was to go to Georgia right now.”
The Bulldogs have made a clear surge.
“They have made my situation a little harder throughout all three schools,” Poole said. “Just because they have gotten really involved here in the last minute and because they are the hometown school.”
Poole will watch film of former Alabama and Ohio State All-American Caleb Downs before his games. The fact that Georgia safeties coach Travaris Robinson coached him in Tuscaloosa is another plus for the program.
Smart also looms large.
“Coach Smart was a DB,” he said. “I know he’s a DB coach. I know he’s going to be on me every day. He’s a hard-coaching guy. That’s what I know I want.”
Ta’Shawn Poole breaks down his finalists
Why would he ultimately choose Florida State?
“That’s the tradition, man,” he said. “The coaching staff loves me. I’ve been a priority for the school and just the whole staff. Even the players there. It felt like I was home when I was there a couple of times.”
Tennessee?
“Just the relationship I have with the coaches,” he said. “They are a winning program, and things like that and of that nature.”
Poole did everything for Howard last fall. He made 40 tackles, intercepted two passes, returned a punt for a touchdown and recorded two tackles for loss and a sack.
Those talents extended to the offensive side with 30 catches for 454 yards and seven TDs. He also had 33 carries for 200 yards and four scores.
His highlight reel begins with two punt return scores, a pick six and another leaping interception, where he skied to reach the ball at its highest point as an over-the-top safety in coverage.
“A lot of people’s best players don’t play special teams,” Howard coach Trey Porter said. “Ta’Shawn has blocked kicks. He’s blocked field goals. He’s got sacks. He’s returned punts and kicks.”