Cortez McDowell, the state's No. 1 prospect at safety, says he apologizes to UGA fans for comments he made after committing to Tennessee over the Bulldogs and Auburn on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, the Locust High School star was asked for his reasons for not selecting UGA and responded that it had to do with the “trouble players get into” and other safeties being committed to the Bulldogs.
Some people were offended by those remarks, and took personal shots at McDowell on Twitter.
On Tuesday night, the soft-spoken McDowell reached out to the media to apologize for his comments:
“Georgia is a good school, but it’s just not the school for me. It’s hard to break the news to some in-state fans that sometimes an in-state school is not the best fit for a kid.
“I’m trying to tell Georgia fans to please don’t take my comments the wrong way. Tennessee was just a better fit for me. Georgia is a good school, and they get good players, too.”
“I apologize to all Georgia fans if I rubbed them the wrong way. I don’t want to create any tensions between myself and Georgia fans and Georgia the school. I send out my sincere apologies to them.”
More Dawg Night: Some of the state's top underclassmen both attended and worked out at Dawg Night. The biggest names were three offensive linemen: North Gwinnett junior Mitch Hyatt, McEachern junior Chuma Edoga and Stephens County sophomore Ben Cleveland – who all hold early offers from Georgia. Two of the state's best juniors at running back, McEachern's Taj Griffin and Sandy Creek's Eric Swinney, also went through drills. ESPN released its 2015 national rankings on Tuesday, and the top five Georgia juniors are Hyatt (No. 4 overall), Westover defensive tackle Trenton Thompson (No. 5), Callaway athlete Terry Godwin (No. 12), Griffin (No. 24) and Carver-Columbus defensive end Mekhi Brown (No. 35). Brown is committed to Alabama, while the rest are undeclared.
Etc: Remember when Ohio State coach Urban Meyer reportedly turned in Florida assistant Brian White (who Meyer hired when he was still with the Gators) for an NCAA secondary recruiting violations? At Tuesday's SEC Media Days, Florida's new head coach fired back at Meyer. "We appreciate our friends from Ohio making sure we are compliant with NCAA rules," Will Muschamp said. "They certainly know something about NCAA rules" … 5-star offensive tackle Damian Prince of District Heights, Md., told the Washington Post that he has gotten death threats from fans of a college he declined to identify: "They were like 'If you don't come to our school, we'll kill you and your family' and 'we know where you live'" … More than 30 high schools, including Lovejoy and Walton, will be participating in the Georgia Invitational 7-on-7 tournament on Friday and Saturday at Lassiter High School.
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