For his scheduled official visit to Georgia Tech this weekend, high-profile recruit Demetris Robertson could anticipate the following — doughnuts that spell out “Go Jackets” at his hotel, a warm reception from coaches, staff and players and a visit from Jay Jones.
Tech endured its worst season since 1994 on the football field, but the Jackets are trying to gain momentum into 2016 with its signing class. It would take a significant jump if it can secure the commitments from any of three prospects making official visits on the final weekend before national signing day next Wednesday, in particular Robertson, an elite wide receiver from Savannah Christian. Hence, the planned visit from Jones, from McCalla, Ala., who committed to Tech two weeks ago on his own visit. Listed by recruiters as an “athlete” who will play quarterback at Tech, Jones turned down scholarship offers from Auburn and Alabama.
Jones intended to drive back to Atlanta to make his pitch to Robertson, whom Rivals rated a five-star prospect and No. 1 in the country in the athlete category. Jones likewise can make his appeal to Donavaughn Campbell, a four-star guard from Louisiana committed to LSU but also the brother of Tech freshman quarterback Christian Campbell and high-school teammate of defensive end commit Jahaziel Lee.
One more is Jordan Johnson, an offensive lineman from Jacksonville, Fla., who withdrew his commitment after an incident with campus police during a visit to Tech for the Georgia game in November, but evidently has restored his relationship with Tech.
“I believe once those guys get on the visit, they’ll get a swing of emotions towards Tech,” Jones said. “Demetris, we’ll hopefully show him he can come in and build something great, to be a head-turner.”
Momentum has picked up in recent weeks. Jones gave his pledge two weeks ago, following a similar path as quarterback Justin Thomas by spurning the in-state powerhouses to play for a team and coach that were interested in him solely as a quarterback.
Johnson has picked up four more commitments in the past week, pushing the class size to 17. The foursome included defensive tackle Brandon Adams, who had previously been committed to Vanderbilt, and four-star defensive end Jordan Woods, who selected Tech over Tennessee and Miami.
Woods was at Tech for his official visit the same weekend as Jones and was similarly impressed.
“It really opened my eyes up,” said Woods, from Citra, Fla. “If I didn’t have this visit, I probably would have not had the chance to come here and really understand what Georgia Tech brings.”
Woods said he was influenced by the honesty and down-to-earth nature of the coaching staff, the value of a Tech degree and the opportunity provided by its location.
“A lot of schools will tell you, ‘Oh, look at the stadium, look at this, look at that,’” Woods said. “Coach Johnson’s going to tell you, ‘Yeah, our stadium holds almost 60,000, but guess what? Coca-Cola’s right down the street.’”
On his visit, Adams formed a bond with commits such as Norcross High safety Jarett Cole and Grayson High defensive tackle Chris Martin. He said also that he and his family were “smothered” with love.
“Not like hugging and all the phony-type stuff,” Martin said. “They were just really, really nice. It was just easy to talk to them. It just felt right.”
Players and families stay at a hotel near campus (they’ll find the letter-shaped doughnuts in their room). The visit also includes dinners at Capital Grille and Fogo de Chao, time hanging out with player hosts and team members, a tour of campus and the football facilities. There’s also visits with position coaches and Johnson. The dinners have been a hit.
“I’m a lineman,” Adams said. “I love food. The food was really good.”
The late additions have given more depth on defensive line, which is in need of reinforcement, and filled out a class that may not rank highly, but has its notables. Offensive lineman Parker Braun, brother of former Jacket guard Trey Braun (offers from Ohio State and Auburn), linebacker Emanuel Bridges (Clemson, Michigan State) and running back Dedrick Mills (Florida State) are among the stars of the class.
The recent commitments have also created an excitement within the class. After Jones, the quarterback from Alabama, gave his commitment, he went to work on Woods.
“I was just telling him just what I was telling you,” Jones said. “We’ve got the chance to do something big.”
The final pieces could be this weekend’s visitors, Robertson, Campbell and Johnson.
Robertson would seem a long shot — Alabama, Notre Dame and Stanford appear to be front-runners. But the fact that he has chosen to spend one of his five allotted visits at Tech is an indication that there’s at least a chance. It’s believed that Tech has never signed a five-star prospect.
Said Jones, “That would be a great grab for us.”
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