Auburn visit leaves LB with tough call

An official visit to Auburn this weekend has put Powder Springs (Ga.) McEachern linebacker Gerald McRath in the position of making a tough choice tonight.

“I’m spending some time by myself in my room trying to make my decision,” he said. “I’m just laying here in bed trying to go over all the pros and cons of both schools, and I think I might make my decision later on… It’s either Auburn or Southern Miss.”

McRath (6-2, 218, 4.53) said Auburn helped itself immensely with this weekend’s visit.

“I really enjoyed,” he said. “It probably couldn’t have gone any better. I enjoyed the people more than anything. They did everything with a lot of hospitality and style. They had our jerseys in the locker room with our names and numbers on them. That was a big highlight for me.

“The students and the people there in the town are really neat. It was ‘War Eagle!’ everywhere we went. It’s a real college sports town, which I like. Auburn football is the big thing all year long. I think the school really recruits itself, maybe more than the coaches do.”

McRath’s host for the weekend was former McEachern teammate Jarrod Britt.

“That was nice,” he said, “to have a former teammate who knows you already there to tell you about everything. I know I can trust him to be real honest and up-front with me. We had a good time hanging out together with the other guys.”

Asked what some of the other highlights were, McRath said: “The facilities are great, just like you would expect. I liked the weightroom and their strength and conditioning staff. I think they really do a good job with developing their players. I also liked the academic side of things. I got to meet one of the business school professors, and I felt real good about him.”

Southern Miss will make it a tough call, though, he said. The Golden Eagles also impressed him during his December visit, and he sees a big opportunity to play early in Hattiesburg.

As a senior, McRath recorded 90 tackles, five tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.