South Carolina obliterated Georgia on the football field Saturday night, and now the Gamecocks have conquered the Bulldogs on a top-flight recruit, too.
Kelsey Griffin who announced his intentions to go to Georgia two weeks ago, took it back and professed his love and admiration to attend Steve Spurriers’ No. 3-ranked team in Colombia.
The 6-foot-1, 290-pound defensive tackle from Mill Creek High School just north of Atlanta was on hand for South Carolina’s 35-7 beat down of UGA four days ago.
If Griffin was undecided before then, he was not after the game.
“He’s very relieved and excited,” Mill Creek coach Shannon Jarvis told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “It was always between South Carolina and Georgia for him. He feels blessed with how it all turned out. He was able to go the game this week, and meet with (Spurrier) on Sunday to finalize this.”
Griffin is a 4-star recruit who is ranked as the nation’s No. 5 defensive tackle by 247sports.com. He’s also ranked as the eighth-best overall prospect out of the state of Georgia by 247.
“For their scheme, he fits perfectly with the way they move their tackles,” Jarvis said. “They are a 4-3 based alignment, which is different than a lot of schools that run a 3-4. It will let him stay around the body weight he is right now. And if you look at his body type, it fits in exactly with what they do upfront defensively.
Griffin committed on television on September 22 to attend Georgia. Not a few hours passed before his coach said to the AJC that Griffin was not committed to Georgia.
On Tuesday, Griffin’s coach told the AJC, “I had different schools from across the Southeast calling me after the Georgia thing, trying to line up visits and all. But Kelsey didn’t want to open up the recruiting process again. He wanted to focus on South Carolina and go to the game there.
“I think Kelsey saw that first-hand on Saturday night. That was one of the first things he was impressed with, with how they move their defensive front. Because Kelsey, with his size, his quickness, and his ability to use his hands, those are things that are strengths for him and allow him to fit in well with that scheme.”
