There’s not as much recruiting drama as last year surrounding the Georgia players in Thursday’s Under Armour All-America game, which features many of the nation’s top college football prospects.
Five Georgia players were selected for the game, which will be televised by ESPN at 4 p.m. Thursday from St. Petersburg, Fla.
Only one of the five, Norcross High defensive end Lorenzo Carter, is not committed to a college.
The other participants are Liberty County linebacker Raekwon McMillan (committed to Ohio State), Gainesville quarterback Deshaun Watson (Clemson), Carrollton defensive tackle Dontravius Russell (Auburn) and Camden County defensive back Kalvaraz Bessent (Auburn).
There are two other local connections in the game, a pair of out-of-state recruits committed to Georgia — tight end Jeb Blazevich of Charlotte, N.C., and defensive tackle Lamont Gaillard of Fayetteville, N.C.
Last year’s Under Armour game was a recruiting circus among the 10 Georgia players; Six, including Robert Nkemdiche and Montravius Adams, had yet to make their college decision, and a couple of others were “soft” commitments.
Among this year’s group, Carter is the only suspense-filled member. UGA and Florida are the leaders for Carter, the state’s No. 1-rated overall prospect who intends to commit on the Feb. 5 signing day.
On Tuesday, Carter said that he selected Florida State over Alabama for his fourth official visit, on Jan. 24. Carter has visited Florida, and he will go to LSU on Jan. 17 and UGA on Jan. 31.
“It was just (FSU linebackers coach Charles Kelly) staying on me,” Carter said. “He does a great job of recruiting me. My parents and me are going to go down there and look around.”
Carter, who plays basketball for Norcross, said he will not try to choose another date to visit Alabama.
Seven players will reveal their college choices during Thursday’s game, and McMillan originally planned to be one of them. However, he changed his mind and committed to Ohio State over Auburn and Alabama at his high school a couple of weeks ago.
McMillan, who ranks as the state’s No. 2 prospect, appeared relaxed at practices this week and spoke with confidence about his decision for Ohio State.
“I’m happy to be at ease now,” McMillan said. “There’s not all these reporters all over me, asking me where I’m going. I’m going to Ohio State, and that’s final. I start school on Sunday.”
Since committing to Ohio State, McMillan has communicated with coaches from Alabama and Clemson. However, he quickly shot down the notion that something could change in the next few days.
“No, I’m 100-percent Buckeye,” said McMillan, who switched from middle linebacker to outside linebacker this week because of injuries on his team.
Watson committed to Clemson when he was a sophomore and will enroll there next week. Watson, the state’s No. 4 prospect, was only an observer this week while recovering from a knee sprain suffered in the state playoffs.
There has been plenty of recent drama involving the other two Georgians, Russell and Bessent. Ironically, it all started when both witnessed firsthand Auburn’s miracle win over Alabama while committed to other schools.
Russell, the state’s No. 10 prospect, was a longtime UGA commit who backed off his pledge because he wanted to “look around.” Russell stated plans to visit both Auburn and UGA next month before finalizing his decision, but abruptly committed to the Tigers last Friday on Twitter.
Bessent, the state’s No. 6 prospect, recently switched his commitment from Alabama to Auburn.
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