Rivals250 DE Aaron Sterling down to four options

The Latest: When it comes to Aaron Sterling’s recruitment, he’s done as good of a job as anyone when it comes to keeping things under wraps. On Tuesday he said four schools remain in the mix, Georgia, South Carolina, N.C. State and Tennessee. Sterling has yet to take any official visits and said he’s hoping to squeeze all four trips in. Rivals.com caught up with him to get his opinion on each program.

In His Words:

Georgia: “I like Coach Rocker. He’s straightforward, he doesn’t sugarcoat. In the recruiting process when you sugarcoat it’s not helping the kid out. So I like how he’s just straightforward with me, how they’re going to use me and the future plans going forward if I were to go to Georgia.”

Tennessee: “Tennessee never stopped. When I was committed to Alabama they never stopped recruiting me. That’s the main focul point of why I like Tennessee. They never give up. I like how they did that, they just never gave up. They want me to play defensive end, they think I can come in and replace Derek Barnett. That’s what they’re telling me.”

South Carolina: “The thing I like about South Carolina, the coaching staff and that atmosphere. The coaching staff, they text me almost every week. Basically, I’ve built a really good relationship with them since they started going in. Besides that, they have some nice facilities. Plus my boy D.J. Wonnum is up there.”

N.C. State: “I really like the d-line coach. He’s a real cool coach. That’s the main reason why I like N.C. State.”

Rivals Reaction: Because Sterling doesn’t do many interviews, Tuesday’s session was actually pretty telling. It appears that Tennessee and South Carolina are the schools to beat, with Georgia not really pushing hard at this time and N.C. State hoping to get him on campus to get its shot. The official visits could be the final factor for the school he eventually signs with, so his comments after those trips could be telling.