Five-star OL Broderick Jones details decision to stay with UGA
This young man had the Georgia fans a little nervous not long ago.
Kirby Smart might not admit it, but he and his staff were on edge about this one for a little while, too.
Broderick Jones is the No. 1 offensive tackle and the No. 5 prospect in the 2020 class, and despite being committed to Georgia for over a year, he chose not to sign with the Bulldogs in December.
There was a lot of chatter about Auburn being a true threat to Georgia up until less than a week ago. Gus Malzahn and his staff were in the Jones home Thursday, then Georgia sent Matt Luke and Dell McGee to spend all of Friday in Lithonia.
Jones was set to visit Auburn officially over the weekend, but when he did not show up late Friday night or early Saturday morning, it slowly leaked out that Jones had cancelled the visit.
This had the staff in Athens feeling much better and now the pen has hit the paper and Jones to Georgia is official.
"Georgia has been a big factor in my recruitment my entire high school career, so they are like another family to me," said Jones. "Family is big for me and I feel at home when I go to Georgia.
"I did have some thoughts about other schools because of what each school had to offer, but at the end of the day, Georgia is where I want to be."
The news did not come out that Auburn had been somewhat eliminated until Saturday morning, but that really happened almost a week earlier when Jones was in Athens.
"After the Georgia visit, my mind was set. They showed me everything that I needed to see and told me everything that I needed to hear. I met with coach Luke, I met with coach Smart, I learned more about academics and I just got a great feel for everyone and everything.
"By the time that visit ended, Georgia was set in my heart."
Sam Pittman left Georgia to take over as the head coach at Arkansas, and on the first day Luke was on the job as a Georgia staffer, he reached out to Jones. The two have basically communicated daily for the past month. They have spent time face-to-face a few times now too, and Jones and Luke have quickly built a strong relationship.
"He is a family man first, and that really stands out to me. That is something I like to see because if you are going to take care of your family, then you are going to be willing to take care of others.
"He is a cool guy, he is laid back, he knows when he needs to get fired up and I believe we can get things done together. Overall, he is an awesome guy all around."
"I am ready to get acclimated into the college life and the college job as a football player at Georgia. I have to go in, work hard, do my best and fight for that starting position.
"I always had fun with the process and I didn't let it stress me out. To have signed with Georgia, it is a big accomplishment. Everyone's background is different, and I can only talk about mine, but from where I come from, a lot of people don't make it.
"For me to be raised by a single mom and the brother's and sister's I have, to do this, it is truly a blessing."
