Recruiting News - #1RB Marcus Lattimore & CMR

I am actually such a recruiting junkie that I even follow it DURING the CFB season.

Found the following article on Scout.com both interesting and encouraging.

1st of all, Marcus Lattimore is widely considered the TOP (#1) RB in the country and by some so called \"experts\" the #1 OVERALL prospect BUT come Ntl Signing Day, whether this young man inks w/UGA (or makes the mistake of signing w/another school), I just absolutely LOVE how CMR handles recruiting today's young football standouts. 2nd, UGA was considered the school to beat by the same \"experts\" some 6 months ago but Marcus Lattimore dropped the Dawgs from consideration when he trimmed his list down to a final 5. Well, thanks to some excellent work by Coach Richt, it looks like the Dawgs are back in the mix to sign ML. After losing the recruiting battle for Lithonia, GA RB Mack Brown to Florida, it would be absolutely awesome to see Marcus Lattimore become the NEXT great running back to showcase his talents Between the Hedges!!!



Chad Simmons Sept. 14, 2009

Marcus Lattimore is the premier running back in the country. He has offers from just about every major BCS program from coast to coast. He has been going through the process for years and he will be signing papers with the school of his choice the first Wednesday in February of 2010.
What looked like a five team race has now been expanded to seven.

Auburn, North Carolina, Oregon, Penn State, and South Carolina are still in it, but Lattimore has put Florida State and Georgia back on his list.

UGA Head Coach Mark Richt brought the Dawgs back into the picture.

“I did visit Georgia on Saturday and I have to say that they are back in it for me,” said Lattimore. “Georgia has never pressured me and that meant a lot. About two weeks ago me and my mom received a letter from Coach Richt. He wrote one to me and one to my mom, so we both got our own letters on the same day.”

“I expected it to say good luck or something like that, but he listed 10 reasons why I should go to Georgia. He said that I fit the offense like a glove, he said that the location is not too close and not too far, and things like that. They were all legit reasons for me to look at Georgia again. I was not expecting anything like that so it kind of blew me away.”

His mom liked hers as well. She has always been a fan of Coach Richt and this letter made her think even more of the Bulldogs coach.

Lattimore now has a final seven.

“My mom visited Georgia with me before so she has met Coach Richt. She likes him a lot and she kind of had questions about that when I took Georgia off my list. She likes him as a person, she really likes how he adopted kids from Ukraine, and she trusts him as a person. She knows I would be in very good hands if I went to Georgia. Her letter was just letting her know all of that and how I would be taken of if I went there. She really liked it.”

The five-star running back out of Duncan (S.C.) Byrnes liked the letter enough to pay Georgia a visit when they hosted South Carolina on Saturday. It took Lattimore about a week and a half to respond to Coach Richt’s letter, but it seemed to be worth the wait for UGA.

“I called Georgia last week about two or three days before the game to let them know I was coming and they were all very excited,” explained the number two prospect in the country. “I talked to Coach Richt and Coach [Bryan] McClendon and it was great to talk to them again. Me, my dad, and my cousins went down to the game and it was crazy. The atmosphere, the crowd, the game – it was all ridiculous. The students were so loud the entire game and it was great to be there for that. I couldn’t even hear myself think on that last play because it was so loud in there.”

Before the game Coach Richt put all aside to spend some one on one time with Lattimore. He took him into a team room and showed him some video. He tried to break it down to the Byrnes star just how and why he wants him to wear red and black on the next level.

“Coach Richt showed me some tape of the Oklahoma State game and showed me how they would use me and what they would do with me. He showed me certain formations, running plays, how they would use me in the passing game, and all of that. I think I could really help Georgia and do well there if I chose them.\"

The coaches were not the only ones recruiting the most college ready high school back in America. One of Georgia’s top commitments was in Athens and he talked to Lattimore about the Bulldogs.

“I talked to Brent Benedict (four-star offensive tackle) and he is a big dude (6-6/295). He talked to me about a lot of different things and he told me how he would really like to block for me at Georgia. He is a cool guy and I like him a lot. He had a lot of good things to say about his commitment and Georgia.”

Between the letter by Coach Richt, the atmosphere on Saturday, the way UGA would use him at running back, and Benedict’s talk with him Lattimore has decided to give Georgia another look.

This visit was nice, but he will return.

“I am going to go back to Georgia after the season to visit Georgia one more time. I want to walk around the campus, hang out more with the players, and just get a better feel for it. The first time I did that before I made my cuts was at night and I just didn’t get a good feel for things. I liked it a lot on Saturday and I want to look at them more now. They have a great program, Coach Richt is a great man, and Georgia knows how to showcase their backs.”



GOOOOOOOOOOOO Coach Richt!
C'mon down to Athens town Marcus!

I'm liking the sounds of that!

Heck...I even like the name. Lattimore, sounds gooooood!!