Josh Harvey-Clemons provided the state of Georgia with one of its more memorable recruiting dramas ever Wednesday.
And it may not be over.
Harvey-Clemons, whom ESPN ranks as the state’s No. 1 overall prospect, committed to Georgia on national TV on Wednesday morning. But his grandfather, who also is his legal guardian, hadn’t signed off on the scholarship papers by Wednesday evening.
Also, Georgia coach Mark Richt may have committed an NCAA secondary violation by publicly commenting on Harvey-Clemons before his letter-of-intent was received and approved by UGA.
The drama began around 11 a.m. Wednesday, when Harvey-Clemons was surrounded by friends and family members at Lowndes High School. After looking over a table of baseball caps featuring Georgia, Florida, Florida State and Miami, Harvey-Clemons picked the one representing the Bulldogs and smiled for ESPNU’s audience.
Later, Harvey-Clemons signed the Georgia papers, but his 51-year-old grandfather hadn’t given his required signature. Therefore, the paperwork couldn’t be sent by fax to Georgia. Both of Harvey-Clemons’ parents are deceased, and Woodrow Clemons is his grandson’s guardian.
Apparently, the prospect’s grandfather was surprised by the choice of Georgia over Florida and Florida State.
“I guess he’s sort of gone AWOL on us,” said Roy Hart, Harvey-Clemons’ uncle, Wednesday evening. “But I know he’s going to support Josh with his decision. I just feel that way. I don’t know. I just feel like it’s a matter of time before Woodrow signs it. I don’t feel like it’s going to be a bombshell and he’s not going to sign it.”
Richt went on ESPNU on Wednesday afternoon without knowing the paperwork was not finished and said this about the 6-foot-5, 200-pounder: “I’m sure glad he became a Bulldog. He’s a great kid, and he’s so versatile. He can play inside linebacker, outside linebacker, he can rush the passer and, quite frankly, he’s quite a wide receiver, too.”
UGA’s athletic-department offices closed around 6 p.m. Wednesday. The Bulldogs released an official list of 2012 signees to the media — without Harvey-Clemons’ name on it. UGA spokesman Claude Felton said he did not know if any letters-of-intent would be coming over the fax machine Wednesday night.
“We’re not going to be just sitting here overnight. If anything was to come up, I’m sure they would call one of the coaches and, in that case, they would come over here and get it. I’m sure they would call me at that point. But, no, there’s not going to be people standing at the fax machine overnight.”
Felton declined to speculate on whether Richt had committed an NCAA secondary violation. “That really would be another area. There’s really nobody here that can make a comment on that. Everybody is gone.”
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