Sports

Reason to smile

• With most of its signing class intact early, the Georgia Bulldogs staff sits back and watches a host of 24 talented top prospects send commitment letters.

Paul Dehner Jr.

ATHENS — Georgia recruiting coordinator Rodney Garner can’t help but crack jokes on a day like this.

Not only did he and head coach Mark Richt compile a class of 24 recruits consistently  recognized as among the top five in the nation, but with most of the class under wraps for months, Wednesday offered little drama.

It was a refreshing feeling to say the least.

“I live with six women,” Garner said, “so I get drama every day.”

On a National Signing Day filled with players choosing between hats on national television and pundits inquiring who will go where, the Bulldogs — fresh off a breakout 11-2 season, No. 2 final poll ranking and 41-10 Sugar Bowl win against Hawaii — quietly went about their business of stockpiling talent.

“Quite frankly, I don’t need all the drama,” said Richt, who had 20 of his recruits verbally committed in December. “More than anything, we had a lot more folks that want to come than we had space for. We had to tell some outstanding players no, but we signed some outstanding players. To have a signing class as large as we had and still have to tell people there wasn’t any room is a quality problem.”

None provided a better example of the problem than potential class jewel A.J. Green. The 6-foot-4, 190 pound receiver from Summerville, S.C., is widely considered one of the top ten overall incoming freshmen in the nation by nearly every service and has been dedicated to Georgia for a year.

In a recruiting era where a verbal commitment means as much as a promise from a used car salesman, the five-star Parade All-American held true.

“A,J. was probably the lowest maintenance high-profile kid we’ve had,” Richt said of the youngster oft-compared athletically to a young Randy Moss. “He came to practice one day in the spring, he liked the way he was treated, what he saw, said this was where he wanted to be and he has not wavered one bit. We might have been a little nervous because you worry about what is going to happen around him.”

The same situation surrounded two other high-profile recruits in the class. Defensive tackle DeAngelo Tyson, of Statesboro High, verbally committed well before he took his final high school snap in a loss to fellow-Georgia signee Nick Williams, of Bainbridge, in the Class AAAA playoffs.

Tyson, a 6-foot-2, 300-pounder ranked No. 45 overall on the ESPN 150, highlights a class literally heavy with defensive lineman, adding five big men.

“We got quality young men,” Garner said. “They are outstanding athletes we feel like can make a contribution. From a positional needs standpoint, we were able to fill those needs.”

And it continued to add to its already impressive running back core with Cass star Richard Samuel. Ranked No. 24 overall in the Rivals.com Top 100, Samuel did one better than stick to his verbal — he enrolled in school early and already is working out with the team.

Even in less than a month, Samuel understood what it means to combine a team only losing four starters with a top five recruiting class.

“It feels pretty good,” he said. “Knowing that Georgia is in the top two or three recruiting class makes me feel like I am going into something pretty good, that it will be special when my senior year comes around.”

The player Bulldogs fans won’t need to wait for years to see blossom will be kicker Blair Walsh from Cardinal Gibbons High in Fort Lauderdale.

With all-everything kicker Brandon Coutu off to the NFL, Walsh comes in with a lofty expectations to meet his pedigree. The All-American kicked two 59-yard field goals, choosing not to use the available tee last season and knocked in 30-of-31 extra points.

There will likely be little waiting to see him kick at Sanford Stadium.

“On the spring depth chart ,we don’t even have a kicker on it,” Richt said.

While most players hope to make the same immediate impact, not all will.

Still, Richt is thrilled to have the depth atop the class in case of any number of unforeseen circumstances between now and the opening game against Georgia Southern.

“I am most concerned with if we filled the needs with the right kind of talent, the right kind of person, or are we taking care of our business,” said Richt, who signed 15 of his 24 players from in state. “We look at our numbers, where we see what we need at each position and make sure injuries can’t crop up on you or you are dangerously low at any spot. We covered our needs; there is no doubt about it.”

According to Scout.com, who has Georgia ranked as the fourth-best class in the nation, UGA boasts two five-star recruits, 13 with four stars and eight with three stars.

Never mind that, though.

As the term “excited” rolls off Garner’s tongue on repeat as the hour-long media session comes to a close, suddenly the theme of levity on this day again arises. The notion of ranking this class by what a number of recruiting sites say, well, is just plain laughable to Garner.

“Stars don’t mean anything,” he said. “Not to us … whether they rank you a five-star or two-star is not going to decide whether you come here or not.”

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