Cortez Alston is still finishing his senior year at Atlanta’s Westminster School, but the defensive end has already seen something some Tech players never have— coach Paul Johnson smile.
Alston recalled one of his favorite memories of the recruiting process when Johnson came to visit Alston and his mother at their home.
"My funniest memory (of Johnson) is probably just him at my house and just like laughing at jokes with my mom,” Alston said. "I (had) never seen him smile before.”
When asked what it felt like to see Johnson tell jokes and smile, the 3-star recruit laughed.
"It was a pretty good feeling,” Alston said.
Alston, 6-foot-3, 250 pounds, committed to Tech on December 21 after going on his official visit to Tech’s campus the weekend of Dec. 9.
Alston signed his letter-of-intent to play with Tech on National Signing Day.
Here’s the rest of the Q&A:
What advice would you give a junior about recruiting now that you've been through it?
Alston: "Just embrace the moment and don't believe everything you hear because it's a business but at the same time, if you focus on your craft and whatever place you end up landing will be the right place for you."
Is there anything that went around about you or any funny rumors during recruiting?
Alston: "Probably the weirdest thing was people kept thinking my last name was 'Allen.' So one of the things that would end up being on the recruiting pages would be about me, but a different last name. I'd get mail for 'Cortez Allen.' It was just weird."
If you could go back and give yourself any advice before you went through the recruiting process, what would it be?
Alston: "Just have your goals set out like what you want out of a college outside of football and just make sure the colleges you reach out to or the colleges you visit (match.) Have a checklist and go through those and whatever matches helps."
Would you do anything in the recruiting process differently?
Alston: "I would have gone to more schools, honestly. I didn't get a chance to go to that many different schools and see different places."
Where would you have visited?
Alston: "I probably would have visited some California schools, Notre Dame and definitely (traveled) more north and south than Georgia and more places around the country."
What's the most creative thing a college did to get your attention?
Alston: "Georgia Tech actually gave me these doughnuts that said, 'Go Jackets' and there was a pamphlet that said, 'Welcome home.' That was pretty creative and I liked it a lot."
What are Georgia Tech's expectations of you as a freshman?
Alston: "I'm not really sure honestly. I know they want me to play strong side (defensive) end, but other than that they haven't talked too much about it."
What do you want Georgia Tech fans to know about you?
Alston: "Just know that I love the game and I'm going to play my heart out for the team."
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