Mark Richt remained mum on Georgia’s recruitment of Everett Golson, he’s OK with Terry Godwin playing baseball and the Bulldogs will be depending heavily on some freshmen to contribute this fall.
Those were just some of the news items to float to the surface here at the Charlotte Convention Center as the Bulldogs’ athletic delegation made it’s latest stop on the UGA Days alumni association tour.
Arriving late for his 6 p.m. autograph and picture session after a storm delayed the UGA plane’s departure from Athens, Richt once again fielded pointed questions about Georgia’s level of interest in recruiting Golson to join its quarterback competition. Golson, a two-year starting quarterback at Notre Dame, recently graduated from the school and is looking to transfer via the NCAA’s graduate transfer rule. He visited UGA this past Wednesday after visiting Florida and Florida State the two days before that. He has yet to make his decision.
Asked if Georgia was still actively recruiting the 6-foot, 200-pound athlete, Richt said tersely, “I’m not going to make any comments.”
Reminded that NCAA rules allow for coaches to confirm that they’re recruiting a prospect, Richt reiterated: “I don’t make comments on recruits.”
The Bulldogs currently have three quarterbacks on scholarship in junior Faton Bauta, sophomore Brice Ramsey and freshman Jacob Park. Ramsey and Bauta emerged from spring practice as the top two in that order, but neither ran away with the competition. UGA has a commitment from Jacob Eason of Lake Stevens, Wash., one of the top overall prospects in the country, for the class of 2016.
“I like the quarterbacks we have, and I don’t foresee it right now,” Richt said when asked if the Bulldogs would prefer to add a fourth quarterback before next season.
Godwin, a 5-star receiver signee from Callaway High School in Hogansville, also happens to be an exceptional baseball player. There are some reports that Godwin’s name could be called when the free agent amateur baseball draft comes next month.
“I know he’s a good baseball player,” Richt said. “I mean, I hope he doesn’t (get drafted). We definitely have plans for him. I haven’t heard anything strong in that way. But, you know, I’m not going to.”
That said, Richt wouldn’t have a problem with Godwin playing baseball at UGA.
“We’ve got a policy that’s basically if a guy can help a team and his grades are good and he can help that team win, I’m fine with that,” he said.
The Charlotte Bulldog Club is one of the many clubs that fan out across the Southeast and several hundred fans were in attendance for Monday night’s meeting, which included UGA President Jere Morehead, basketball coach Mark Fox and the athletic director Greg McGarity. Georgia has also had considerable success recruiting the area. Among their signees from Greater Charlotte are receiver Mohamed Massaquoi, quarterback Joe Cox and current starting tight end Jeb Blazevich.
“Well, we’re not far away,” Richt said of Athens being a three-hour drive away. “There’s a lot of Bulldog fans in this area and I’m hearing this might be the biggest crowd of our clubs. We’ve got a lot of support … in this city.”
Georgia has 21 freshmen who will be joining the eight mid-year enrollees and the rest of the team on June 1 in Athens. Richt mentioned Godwin, linebacker Roquan Smith of Montezuma and defensive lineman Trent Thompson of Albany as freshmen who the Bulldogs will be expecting to contribute.
It’s on the defensive line that Georgia is particularly in need of help.
“We’ve got a few that we think will have to play,” he said. “It’s hard to go into this league and you’re a dominant player in high school and there’s really no one that can match up with you. And then you get a center and a guard on you and they’re big, full-grown men and they start running you off the ball. So there’s always a learning curve. And hopefully they’ll learn during camp what it feels like and what it takes to play those kinds of blocks. But from a talent base we feel like we signed a really good bunch and (Thompson is) leading the pack.”
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