For recruits find myriad reasons influence decisions

“I’ve been asking God and waiting on him to tell me where to go,” said the 6-foot-4, 225-pounder, sporting a crisp new Georgia baseball cap. “As soon as he gave me the answer, I told my family and they left it up to me.”

Not even Dawson’s coach, Franklin Stephens, the third constant in his life, knew for sure until he laid Dawson’s letter-of-intent from Georgia on the table in the Tucker auditorium, shortly before the signing ceremony at the school.

Eight other Lions signed scholarships, including linebacker Jacob Sealand, who would have been Dawson’s teammate had he remained committed to the Commodores.

“I didn’t know until I got a peek at it when I laid it on the table,” said Stephens, who in his fifth season at Tucker led the Tigers to a 15-0 record and the school’s second state title in four seasons. “Georgia is getting a great character kid in Josh, as well as a great football player.”

Quinteze Williams: Florida

While a lot of boys begin getting exposed to sports by their fathers from the moment they leave the hospital as newborns, Quinteze Williams didn’t get it until he was 10 years old.

That was the age that his father, Ellis, after finally getting his life settled properly, fought for and won custody of Quinteze and his younger sister. Immediately, Ellis set about the task of molding his son into a Division I-level football player.

But the road, particularly at the initial stages, was rough for Williams. Though he was already well over 5 feet tall and almost always the biggest person on the field, football didn’t come naturally to him.

“I didn’t like football at all,” said Williams, who committed to Florida after his junior season at Sandy Creek. “All the running and hitting. When I first started playing, I didn’t like it at all, probably for the first three years of playing. I used to cry all the time.”

But his dad wouldn’t let him quit. Instead, he enlisted the assistance of a personal trainer, John Lewis, older brother of NFL running back Jamal Lewis, to help Williams with his coordination, speed, and strength. But there were still many days of disappointment.

“I used to say to John, ‘man, I don’t know about my boy,’” Ellis said. “But he would tell me to be patient and know that things would work out. He knew that [Quinteze] would get there.”

The light finally came on for Williams during his final year of youth football as a 14-year old at the Old National Youth Association.

“All of my teammates looked up to me and expected so much from me because I was so much bigger than everybody,” he said. “So I just thought to myself that if they expect me to dominate, that’s what I need to do.”

Ellis said he realized the dream he had for his son was well within reach after receiving a call from an assistant coach at Ole Miss the summer before Williams’ junior season.

“He called to say that they were offering Quinteze a scholarship and that they felt he was ready to play right then,” Ellis said. “That’s when I knew that his work, John’s work and my work was paying off.”

Tyler Claytor: William and Mary

Tyler Claytor wanted to follow his older brother, Nick, to a school with an academic reputation. Nick played at Georgia Tech and now plays in the CFL.

But the schools that went after Nick weren’t interested in Tyler, who is 6-2 and 250 pounds and played on the offensive and defensive lines for Shiloh last season.

“It was a lot of pressure, and Stanford was my dream school because academics was always important to me,” Tyler said. “But the harsh reality hit when I went to the Alabama camp [last summer] and did really well, but they weren’t interested in me. Everyone gave me the runaround. They said I was too short.”

So Tyler adjusted his lofty goals a bit and when he began to get offers from FCS programs, he knew he wanted to keep academics first. William and Mary was the natural fit.

“William and Mary never lied to me,” Tyler said. “It’s a great academic institution, and they have great coaches who have put players in the NFL. At the end of the day, I went with the school that wanted me.”

C.J. Boyd and Charles Purnell: Alabama State

Most black high school players will fully acknowledge that playing for a historically black college or university is not their ultimate goal. Like most players of all races, they dream of playing on the biggest stage at schools with bigger budgets.

That was the case for C.J. Boyd, a receiver at M.L. King, and Charles Purnell, a running back at Westlake. Both, however, chose Alabama State, an HBCU in Montgomery, over other offers.

Purnell chose the Hornets over Georgia State, after the Panthers began to waver because of a discipline issue.

“For me, it wasn’t about the fact that it was a black school,” said Purnell, a three-year starter. “It was the fact that they have a great program, and they are going to give me the chance to make the right decisions. I felt comfortable there.”

Boyd had offers from a number of Division I programs, including a late offer from Penn State. But all of the schools wanted him to play defensive back.

“Alabama State felt like a family to me,” Boyd said. “I felt comfortable there. I never thought about going to a black school at all. But when I got there for my visit, it surprised me. Everything was top of the line. They had everything I wanted.”

Jordan Sartor, Navy, and Kyle Sloter, Southern Mississippi

Being a senior leader on a team brings with it a great deal of responsibility. That was multiplied 10 times over for Jordan Sartor of Our Lady of Mercy and Kyle Sloter of Mt. Pisgah.

Both went into their senior seasons knowing that they were expected to be the first big-time Division I scholarship winners from their Class A schools. Both accomplished the mission Wednesday.

“I felt some pressure, but pressure is a good thing,” said Sartor, a safety/receiver who missed most of his senior season with a shoulder injury. Still, his good grades along with his accomplishments as a junior, including the fact that he won the 200 meters at the 2011 Class A track and field meet, was more than good enough for the U.S. Naval Academy.

“Coach [Mike] Earwood is building our program, and I’m proud to represent that and be a part of what is being built at Our Lady of Mercy,” Sartor said.

“I’m glad to be an example for Mt. Pisgah and an example for every player at a small Class A private school,” said Sloter, a quarterback, who originally committed to Tulane. “It shows that if you work hard and do all the little things right, it can be done.”

Ryan Dillard, Yale, Lavondre Nelson, Princeton and Johnathan Ford, Cornell

Dillard, Nelson and Ford were all “too something” for the big-time programs: too short or too small.

But maybe they were also too smart. They are among the group of players who will continue their careers at Ivy League schools.

“You have to go with who wants you, and Yale wanted me,” said Dillard, a cornerback/receiver from Buford who had offers from Illinois, Air Force and Navy. “I’m going to get a great education and get to play college football. What more could you want.”

“For me, Cornell gives me the best of both worlds,” said Ford, a linebacker at Greater Atlanta Christian. “I’ll get an Ivy League education, but it’s not as small like the other Ivy League schools. They have about 20,000 students when you count the graduate programs, so it feels more like a Big Ten school.”

Nelson, Ford’s teammate at GAC, said his stature — 5-5 and 150 pounds — eliminated the larger schools from his list early. But his main priority always was academics. He currently has a 3.96 grade-point average and takes three advanced-placement courses.

“I always wanted to go to Duke or Wake Forest or Vanderbilt,” said Nelson, who was offered a track scholarship by Stanford, a result of his time of 10.68 seconds in the 100 meters. “When those schools didn’t want me, it was good that the Ivy League was an option for me. Princeton is a great fit for me.”

Conor Weaver and Yannic Francis: Centre

Conor Weaver knew his college search wasn’t going in the right direction after his performance at the Dawg Night camp in Athens last summer.

“I went up there and dominated,” said the 5-11, 260-pound defensive tackle from Dunwoody. “But at the end, all of these guys that I dominated were getting compliments and offers on the spot from the [Georgia] coaches, and they weren’t saying anything to me.”

His teammate, receiver Yannic Francis, knew his statistics would be paltry because of the Wildcats’ triple-option offense.

“I knew the big-time schools wouldn’t pay any attention,” he said. “I thought about transferring, but I would have missed my teammates.”

Enter Centre College, a Division III school in Danville, Ky., which wanted both of them — lack of size and middling stats not withstanding.

“They showed me so much love,” Weaver said. “Their academic standards are higher than Georgia’s and they have my major [bio chemistry]. And they want me. At the end of the day, you have to go where they really want you.”

Eliot Arno and Andrej Settles: Air Force

It took a trip halfway around the world last summer to help Eliot Arno learn a lesson about his country.

“I saw how much love people in Israel have for their country,” said the offensive tackle, who visited Jerusalem, Tel Aviv and other cities. “Everyone serves at least two years in the military there. When I came back, I knew that I wanted to serve my country, too. Somebody has to do it. Why not me?”

Arno will do so, and play college football to boot, while attending the Air Force Academy. Andrej Settles, who played running back at East Paulding, will be his teammate.

“I want to be a pediatrician, and I’ll be able to go all the way through and become a doctor [at Navy],” Settles said. “It’s just a great opportunity.”

Julius Holder: Stetson

Most college freshman want to hit the field as soon as possible. Not Julius Holder.

He knows that without a doubt he will be redshirted next season. But that’s fine with him because so will all of his teammates. Holder, who played linebacker at Lovett, is part of the first recruiting program for the rebirth of the football program at Stetson.

While he had offers from established FCS programs such as Valparaiso, Colgate and Dayton, Holder chose to be part of history with the Hatters.

“They have my exact major, digital arts,” said Holder, who wants to be a video-game designer. “Other schools have computer science, but this major is exactly what I want to do.”

Holder said the redshirt year will actually be a blessing for him and his teammates.

“We get to get in the weight room and get bigger and stronger and faster, and we get to focus on our studies more,” he said. “We’ll hit the field as sophomores [in 2013], and by the time we’re juniors and seniors, we’ll be ready to dominate.”

Jordan Landry, Tennessee-Martin; Nicholas Collins, Lafayette

Eventually, life deals just about everyone a dose of reality. High school football players know this, as the dreams of playing on the big stage go unfulfilled for many.

But there is life, and a good one at that, beyond FBS football.

“My mother told me what was going to be for me was going to be for me,” said Jordan Landry, who rushed for nearly 1,000 yards and scored 15 touchdowns for undefeated state champion Tucker. While his size — 5-7, 160 pounds — kept the major programs from calling, Tennessee-Martin stepped in.

“After just one visit, I knew that was where I wanted to be,” said Landry, who also had offers from Jacksonville State and Georgia State. “They wanted me, and I wanted them.”

Nicholas Collins, Landry’s teammate at Tucker, was told by the major programs that he was too small as well. But Lafayette thought the 6-0, 270-pound defensive tackle was right for its program.

“I realized that Lafayette was the route for me,” said Collins, who also had offers from Mercer, Bucknell and Lenoir-Rhyne. “I enjoyed the atmosphere on my visit. I love the campus and the academics are first rate, which is important to me.”

Khalil Stinson, Samford

The Westlake receiver was the main character in a cautionary tale for many recruits. Fortunately for him, the story has a happy ending.

At 6-3, 200, Stinson had the measureables most big-time programs are looking for at his position. Stinson had early offers from Arkansas State and Buffalo before his senior season.

He thought a solid season on the field would mean bigger offers would come. They didn’t, and in fact, those offers went away, too.

“They went on and signed other receivers,” Stinson said. “I waited too late.”

But as it turns out, his timing was just right for Samford.

“They play in the SEC of Division I-AA [Southern Conference], and it’s the Harvard of the South,” Stinson said. “They spread the ball around, and they have [NFL] scouts at their practices all the time.”

Not lacking for confidence, Stinson said, “I’m going to go and break records. With the program they have and the academics, it’s the best of both worlds for me.”