Published Mar 9, 2017
Super sophomore Haselwood stays home, he's a Dawg
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Chad Simmons  •  Rivals.com
Recruiting Analyst
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@ChadSimmons_

It is official. Jadon Haselwood has announced that he is a Georgia Bulldog.

There has been chatter about the possibility of this happening for weeks now, but Haselwood took visits to Alabama and Ohio State to make sure of things and he is now excited to call himself a Bulldog.

"It is a relief to say I am committed," said Haselwood. "I know coaches are still going to recruit me and that they are still going to come after me, but I am committed to Georgia and they are going to know about that.

"I know where my future home is and that is a big relief for me. I tried to enjoy the recruiting process and all that, but I wanted to move forward and go ahead and say I am a Bulldog."

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Kirby Smart did not receive the news this week like most. He did not even get the news this month. The leader of the Georgia program has known about this breaking news for a little while now.

"I took a visit to Georgia in January and I loved it. It was the next night over the phone that I told coach Smart that I wanted to commit. I knew it was where I wanted to be, so I gave him a call.

"He was very excited about it. He welcomed me to the family, we talked about a few things and then we started talking about the future, how I can help recruit and those type of things. It was a great call."

All the visits to Athens (Ga.) here in 2017 has really helped Georgia with the star out of Ellenwood (Ga.) Cedar Grove. His time with the coaches was great, but Haselwood sitting down with a couple of 2017 signees that enrolled early made a big impact too.

"I have been up at Georgia a few times this year and it feels good up there man," said Haselwood. "When I have been there, everyone there has kept it real. I remember sitting down with J.J. (Jeremiah Holloman) and Rich (Richard LeCounte) and they both told me to make the best decision for me.

"They answered my questions, they told me if Georgia is not for me, then to go somewhere else that I would be happy. I just love how everyone at Georgia is honest and real. It is the place I want to be because of the people there. I know they all want what is best for me."

By the time Haselwood moves to Georgia, a couple of his teammates he won a state title with in 2016 will be two years into their careers. About six months ago Haselwood was not too high on Georgia; they were towards the bottom of his top group of schools, but they helped change that.

"My teammates Justin Shaffer and Netori Johnson told me a lot of good stuff about Georgia and as they kept talking about them I started to look into Georgia more. I found out what they were saying about Georgia, about the coaches and about it all was true, so I really started looking at Georgia a different way late last year.

"They played a role in helping Georgia for sure. They are great guys who keep it real with me and they let me make my own decision, but they definitely helped Georgia. It will be great to play with them again."

Now Haselwood wants to do some recruiting of his own. He has some players in mind, he has already started recruiting them to Georgia and he is acting towards them the way UGA signees acted towards him.

"I am on Jashawn Sheffield, Jaylen McCullough, Owen Pappoe and those type of guys in the 2019 class already," said Haselwood. "I am telling them to come be a Dawg at UGA. I let them know about the coaches and I just keep it real with them the way it was kept real with me.

"I know we are going to do some special things at Georgia and I let them know that."

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