An Atlanta area high school coach said Georgia State “won’t be welcomed back” at his school after asking one of his football players to accept a grayshirt offer less than six weeks before national signing day.
Jonathan Slaton is a senior defensive back from Arabia Mountain High School who has been committed to Georgia State since July. According his coach, Slaton was contacted by Georgia State on Thursday and asked to take a grayshirt offer, or delay his enrollment until January 2015.
“I want it to be known that Georgia State won’t be welcomed back in Arabia Mountain for doing business like that to kids,” said Arabia Mountain coach Stanley Pritchett, who played running back for nine seasons in the NFL.
“That’s not professional. That’s not how we do things around here. The Georgia State coaches didn’t even bother to call me about it. The kid had to tell me about it this morning. I don’t know how they do business over there, but we’re not happy.
“More than anything, I’m upset because he was one of the first kids that committed in their class. If they didn’t want him, they could have told him a long time ago instead of this close to signing day. They pretty much wasted his time. I think it’s a bad move. You’re playing with kids’ lives when you do things like this.”
Pritchett could only speculate for the reasons behind the request to delay enrollment. The coach said Slaton has not gotten into any off-the-field trouble and is on track to qualify. “He has a 3.0 GPA. I’m very disappointed about the situation. Jonathan said Georgia State told him it was because he had the least amount of experience at defensive back. We think it’s because of the junior-college guys they signed. I think they over-signed, so they told my guy that he had to grayshirt, and then redshirt after he got there.”
Georgia State coach Trent Miles could not comment directly on Slaton due to NCAA rules. However, Miles did address the nature of the situation:
“I can’t talk about the kid, but in this type of situation we talk directly to the family and explain what can happen, with us being in a situation where we have to sign some junior college players because of the need for immediate help,” Miles said.
“For a young man, (a grayshirt) creates an opportunity to create separation between he and some guys that are older than him. We look at situations like this purely as a benefit. When you grayshirt a young men, he gets five and a half years to play four, rather than five to play four … We do it purely as a positive for a kid.”
What’s next for Slaton? He and his coach will contact other colleges about scholarship availability in this year’s class. He committed to Georgia State over UT Chattanooga, Kennesaw State and North Carolina A&T, among others.
“We will go back and talk to other schools but the problem with that is that most of them moved on after Jonathan committed and filled his spot with other players,” Pritchett said. “Obviously, it’s very late in the recruiting process. We’re less than six weeks away from signing day.”
LASTING IMPRESSION: UGA was the school that had the chance to make the last impression on the state's No. 1-ranked prospect before the NCAA dead period, which began Monday and lasts for a month. UGA assistants Todd Grantham and Bryan McClendon made an in-home visit on Sunday evening with Norcross High School defensive end Lorenzo Carter. "They stayed for about three hours; I was trying to get them to leave because I had somewhere to be," Carter joked. Where did he have to be? "My girlfriend's house." Carter gave a thumbs up to the visit. "It was good. We meet up with Georgia all the time. Coach Grantham sat down and talked to my mom more about defense. He let her know more about the defensive schemes, which she doesn't really understand. She was trying to ask some questions. It was a fun visit." Carter has already taken an official visit to Florida. He has scheduled a trip to LSU for Jan. 17 and to UGA on Jan. 31. He will decide between Florida State and Alabama for Jan. 24. "It depends on which school I hear from the most," Carter said. "Florida State is making a push. Alabama has kind of fell off but I feel like they are still there, so it's going to depend on who lets me know they want me more." Who leads for Carter? "It's a Georgia-Florida race, right now."
THIS AND THAT: North Gwinnet High School defensive end Dante Sawyer has committed to South Carolina over Missouri, his teammate running back C.J. Leggett pledged toGeorgia Tech Friday. Leggett, a 3-star prospect, was also considering Pitt and UCLA. …Former Burke County High School defensive tackle DaVonte Lambert changed his mind and signed with Auburn over Tennessee on Wednesday. Lambert, who plays at Georgia Military junior college, had been committed to Tennessee since last summer.
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