Right here in the dead of summer, Georgia has landed itself a scholarship tight end to play this fall.
Joseph Ledbetter, 6-foot-5, 220 pounds, has played Division II basketball the past two years at Pfeiffer University, a small Methodist college in North Caroina. But according to DawgPost.com, who talked to Ledbetter on Monday, the former Tucker High standout entered the summer with the intention of making the transition to football. He attended UGA's Dawg Night camp two weeks ago and will report with the rest of the Bulldogs for preseason camp on Thursday.
“I didn’t think I would get a full ride to Georgia,” Ledbetter told DawgPost. “Basketball and football conditioning is totally different. I have been preparing my body differently to deal with the different things that football has that basketball doesn’t like muscle endurance. I am not quite where I want to be, and I still have a lot of work to do.”
Georgia is concerned about depth at tight end. Projected starter Jay Rome is recovering from foot surgery and three untested freshmen are behind him. The Bulldogs have cross-trained fullback Quayvon Hicks at the position and developed a hybrid, or H-back, role as well.
Ledbetter is older brother of 4-star defensive end prospect and Alabama commit Jonathan Ledbetter. At one point he considered following his brother to Tuscaloosa. Now there’s a chance he could convince his younger brother to follow him to Athens.
“He has to do what’s best for him,” Joseph Ledbetter said. “If Georgia is not the best place for him, then I don’t want him to go to Georgia. It would be great to be at Georgia with me, but I am going to tell him to figure out what is the best place for you. I don’t want him to go somewhere just because I am going there.”
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