WR Malachi Bennett trims list to five, eyes August decision

Late in the spring, Fairfield (Ala.) wide receiver Malachi Bennett trimmed his list to eight. Now, he has eliminated Kentucky, Tennessee and Texas A&M to get down to his final five.

The 6-foot-2, 185 pounder is now down Georgia, Louisville, Ole Miss, South Carolina and UAB. He sees himself committing to one of those schools in the next six to seven weeks.

"I am planning to make my decision around the first game (August 28) and it will be to one of my top five schools," said Bennett. "I do not plan to cut my list down again, so I will be committing to one of the five schools on my list."

This list came from the research Bennett has done on each school, the virtual tours, the strength in his major (Broadcasting), and most importantly, the communication.

"I have been talking to coaches from each of these schools almost every day. They have been talking to me a lot and they have been communicating with my parents too.

"I really got down to these five schools because of the relationships I have built with coaches and the academics they offer."

There is no official order, but a pair of SEC schools could be pulling slightly ahead.

"Ole Miss and South Carolina are recruiting me the hardest," said Bennett. "I do not have a 1-5 order or anything like that, but how those two are recruiting me could them the edge a little.

"I am talking to the whole offensive staffs at Ole Miss and South Carolina, so they are coming at me hard."

Bennett visited Oxford not too long before the coronavirus shut visits down, and he has visited UAB, but he has not visited Georgia, Louisville or South Carolina.

He and his parents plan to have some major discussions in the coming weeks as Bennett closes in on a decision.

"I am going to keep doing my research on the schools, I will continue to talk with the coaches, and I will be talking a lot to my parents about this," said Bennett. "They are involved in this too, and it will really be a decision we make together.

"My parents and I really like the same schools, so we talk about the schools, the coaches, the atmosphere at each place and more to make this decision late in August."