It rained and poured football recruits for UGA and Georgia Tech over the weekend.
UGA had four players commit to the Bulldogs after Friday night’s “Dawg Night” prospect camp, which was delayed for 90 minutes because of thunderstorms.
Georgia Tech picked up commit No. 12 for its 2014 recruiting class on Friday, and could add more after camp late Sunday night.
UGA has been on a hot streak in recruiting lately, and the Bulldogs added their first commitment on Friday before camp even started. Rutland High School wide receiver Shakenneth Williams picked the Bulldogs over Vanderbilt shortly after arriving on campus.
The 6-foot-1, 195-pound Williams earned a scholarship at last month’s Mark Richt camp, and some were surprised that he didn’t commit on the spot. On the return trip, the three-star recruit didn’t waste much time.
“Me and my mom talked it over and she liked everything, and I felt like it was time,” Williams said.
Safety Kendall Gant of Lakeland, Fla., was UGA’s biggest catch of the night, with the four-star prospect selecting the Bulldogs over Alabama, Ohio State, USC and Florida State.
UGA’s other two commitments were a pair of much-needed offensive linemen, Lowndes High School’s Dyshon Sims and Isaiah Wynn of St. Petersburg, Fla. Offensive linemen are a top priority for Georgia in this year’s class after missing on a couple of key targets last season.
With Sims, UGA had an advantage because his cousin, Josh Harvey-Clemons, plays safety for the Bulldogs. After committing, Sims canceled plans to spend the rest of the weekend at his other finalist, Alabama.
“It was a pretty close battle,” Sims said. “I just felt more comfortable with Georgia. I know more people there, and I really don’t know anybody at Alabama.
“I also like how you get a four-year scholarship at Georgia. That’s one of the main reasons I picked it. From my understanding, you get three years at Alabama, and you only get a scholarship for each year. If you don’t show enough progression, then your scholarship is pretty much gone at Alabama.”
The 6-4, 278-pound Sims has been a hot commodity among colleges since UGA was one of his first scholarship offers in early May. He’s rated as a 4-star recruit, the state’s No. 1 offensive lineman, and No. 24 overall prospect in Georgia by 247sports.com.
“I was just waiting on my mom to give the OK,” Sims said. “She had a real good talk (over the telephone) with Coach Richt. She feels comfortable with Georgia, and she knows that they will take care of me. It feels like family at Georgia, so I went ahead and committed.”
Surprisingly, Sims went ahead and participated in Friday’s camp, even though he didn’t need to do it because he already held an offer from UGA. He spent a lot of time working with Bulldogs offensive line coach Will Friend.
“I just wanted to evaluate Coach Friend as my position coach,” Sims said. “I just wanted to make sure that I would like playing for him for the next four years. Doing the camp give me a good feel on how things would go.”
Wynn waited until Sunday to go public with his decision for UGA, picking the Bulldogs over Auburn, Tennessee, and Arkansas. He is rated as a four-star and the nation’s No. 7 offensive guard by 247sports.
“It’s huge for Georgia,” said UGASports.com’s Jake Rowe. “They got a guy they were really going hard after. He was probably their top interior prospect on the offensive line, maybe their top overall prospect on the offensive line.”
Wynn is commitment No. 15 for UGA, which projects to sign around 20 in February.
At Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets didn’t have any commitments at Sunday’s camp but picked up a sleeper prospect a couple of days earlier. Michael Preddy, a lineman from Charleston, S.C., selected Georgia Tech over Wake Forest, Louisville and Rutgers.
“I liked Georgia Tech because of the academics and the athletics,” Preddy said. “I could win on the football field, and I could succeed academically beyond college with a degree from Georgia Tech. That really attracted me to the school.”
The 6-foot-5, 270-pound Preddy has only played one year of high school football but has a high ceiling of potential. He will probably play offensive line at Georgia Tech.
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