Rivals 250 OL eyeing summer decision; knows two finalists
ORLANDO — Warren McClendon started the recruiting process his freshman year, so he is truly a veteran now. The 6-foot-5, 285 pound offensive lineman out of Brunswick (Ga.) has offers from schools coast to coast, but there is a select group that are coming at him hardest today.
Alabama, Auburn, Clemson, Florida, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee are the schools showing McClendon the most attention at this time and many more may turn it up soon because he is not too far from cutting his list down.
"I have started to think about narrowing my list down and then committing sometime this summer," said McClendon. "I will cut it down to around three or four schools after the spring, then focus on those before I commit to one."
A few weeks ago McClendon was up in Athens. He has multiple family connections to Georgia. His uncle Willie McClendon played running back and his cousin Bryan McClendon (offensive coordinator at South Carolina) played wide receiver between the hedges.
That will not play into his decision, but Georgia is squarely in the mix.
"I talk to coach [Sam] Pittman and coach [Glenn] Schumann a lot and sometimes I talk to coach [Kirby] Smart too. They are telling me to get up there as much as I can, so they can see me and spend time with. They have always been recruiting me hard.
"I have to been to a lot of Georgia games and I really like the atmosphere on game-day, how the crowd is crazy and I know it would be a great environment to play in."
He has similar feelings about South Carolina and current connection to that staff.
"The coaching staff is what stands out to me the most at South Carolina," said McClendon. "Having my cousin coaching there is nice, but I am looking at the school overall.
"I talk to coach [Eric] Wolford a lot and I really like him as a coach. South Carolina really has great support from their fans, their stadium is loud and I like it there overall."
While it will be a work in progress for McClendon to eliminate some top schools from his list and to decide just how many he remain on it, the Bulldogs and the Gamecocks appear to be in a good position.
"South Carolina will definitely make the list and Georgia will likely make it too. I would say those two will be on it for sure. I feel good about those schools, I have very good relationships with the coaches at each school and I feel good when I am there.
"I am not sure about the other ones yet. I still need to take some more visits and see where I feel the best at."
How he feels will play a big role in his decision.
"The school I commit will be the one I feel most at home at," said McClendon. "That is what it is really all about for me. That is what I am looking for."
