Georgia legend Todd Gurley shared this advice with top RB prospect

Kevin Hartsfield, the nation’s No. 1 junior running back prospect, aced yet another big test last week. His Newton team took down previously unbeaten Westlake on a final-minute catch that made DawgNation’s Brandon Adams tax his vocal cords on the call.

Hartsfield, who is rated as the No. 46 overall prospect for 2028 on the 247Sports Composite, fought through cramps all game.

“I was really trying to sneak back inasmuch as I could,” Hartsfield said. “Like I played a few plays in between cramps, but I just kept cramping.”

Even on that game-deciding play.

“Off the release, I caught a cramp in my hamstring,” he said. “Then I went up for the ball and my back cramped when I caught it. After that, I didn’t cramp anymore. It was like an adrenaline boost out of nowhere.”

The play wasn’t even designed for him, but Hartsfield said he has great chemistry with Newton’s star sophomore quarterback Josiah Frazier.

“He knew I was going to fade it out, so he just threw it up,” Hartsfield said. “I told myself if I dropped that ball, I was going to keep running out of the stadium.”

The Touchdown Club of Atlanta honored Hartsfield on Tuesday afternoon with the AJC’s Offensive Player of the Month award for September.

Hartsfield, who leads the deepest running back room in Georgia high school football, has already piled up 626 yards on 60 carries and seven rushing touchdowns this fall.

That gaudy 10.4 yards per carry is a big reason why he’s a UGA priority. Hartsfield has been in Athens for the two home games, including last month’s onslaught of Oklahoma.

“The visit was good,” Hartsfield said. “The thing that stood out to me was the ability to dominate a top team and not even be happy with the win; it shows they hold themselves to a high standard.”

Hartsfield shared a nugget from his most recent visit.

The 6-foot, 210-pounder linked up with Georgia legend Todd Gurley. Hartsfield said the two discussed “just about what my decision should be and what to look for. He told me basically your decision is your decision. I’m not going to tell you where to go.”

The former NFL Offensive Player of the Year also offered a few more pearls of experience.

“He just told me to make good choices,” Hartsfield said. “He said because it is easy to ruin your career over something stupid.

“It was definitely helpful. Especially talking to somebody I looked up to and literally I watch his film before games. It was definitely a good thing for me to be able to talk to him like that.”

Hartsfield has also visited LSU and Tennessee this season, but Georgia is pulling out all the stops to land the commitment.

“Kirby Smart has actually been texting my phone,” Hartsfield said. “Like last game. He’s texted me after the Douglas County game. The first game of the season. This last game, he texted me that he’d seen my running touchdown when I jumped over the dude. Then, he texted me after he saw me catch the ball. He said he loved watching me play.”

“He said he’d get me 25 carries a game if I came up there.”

Georgia has plenty of reasons to be a major contender down the Hartsfield recruitment runway. There’s location, the team’s national profile and the history of running back development.