Want to attack every day with the latest Georgia football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel will bring at least five days a week. The play sheet for Thursday calls for an update with a prospect who is on campus at this hour. That’s Florida State pledge Quashon Fuller. He’s got a lot of interesting things to say about the Georgia staff and 5-star freshman quarterback Justin Fields.
First and foremost, let’s not get anything twisted here.
Quashon (QUAY-shon) Fuller is committed to Florida State. He rates on the 247Sports composite rankings as the nation’s No. 20 strongside defensive end prospect in the Class of 2019. That evaluation slots him in as the nation’s No. 255 overall prospect in this cycle.
He gives a lot of reasons as to what connects him to Florida State:
- The 6-foot-4, 277-pound prospect grew up in a family of Florida State fans. The Fullers have a family history at Florida State. It goes a little deeper than just rooting for the Seminoles every Saturday.
- What history? “There’s a statute of three people by the bookstore and I’m actually related to Doby Flowers.” She is honored as part of an “Integration Statue” on the campus. She was the first black homecoming queen at Florida State in 1970. Her brother, Fred Flowers, is also part of that tribute. He was the first black athlete on campus. Fuller said those two are his “great cousins.”
- He committed to Florida State in February 2017, but that pledge wavered just a bit through the recent coaching transition to Willie Taggart.
- It was bad at one point, but the Florida resident stayed in the boat. He waited out what seemed to him like a long period of indecision by the new staff about his worth to the program. Those Florida State ties ran deep enough for him to avoid a knee-jerk reaction to wait for that transition process to run its course.
- James Chaney, his coach at Lehigh Senior High in Fort Myers, Fla., wore No. 96 at for the Seminoles and played with Heisman Trophy winner Charlie Ward during the program’s golden years.
But he arrived at Georgia Wednesday night and will spend the bulk of Thursday on campus. That’s because he knew he wanted to get back after his last visit earlier this year.
He did. That was on G-Day. Now, he’s back again this week.
Why?
“Georgia is a special place,” Fuller said. “I’m a big fan of Justin Fields. Every time I go up there and get to hang with him, I just feel like one of the Bulldogs. I was up there for G-Day and it just felt like those were my brothers. I wasn’t even on the team yet and I really haven’t actually felt like that with another team yet. So that was just really crazy to me.”
So how does Quashon Fuller really feel about UGA?
Fuller said the bond he has with UGA and the players on the team is very strong.
“I would say that bond is the same as it is with Florida State,” Fuller said. “At first, those guys at Florida State were like my brothers but we kind of fell off. Right now, we are building that relationship back.”
The best way to describe things is that Fuller feels as close to certain guys at UGA as he does to any current player within the program he’s currently committed to.
“Yes, that’s it,” Fuller said. “That’s accurate.”
Should he be a flip candidate? Fans like to see those lists from time to time of the top players UGA is trending with that are currently committed elsewhere. Do the Bulldogs qualify as a school that holds at least some semblance of a flip chance with Fuller?
“They are going a good job recruiting me,” Fuller said.
Will the Bulldogs get an official visit from Fuller? He said yes. The 4-star defensive end is not sure of the date yet, but he said UGA has earned that right.
“I felt like those guys were my brothers and I could actually see myself being there for the next four to five years of my life. I actually really like how [defensive line coach Tray Scott] and those guys are building up the Georgia program there. They are out there at practice every day chasing a national championship. You can see that every day. That’s something I want to be a part of in college.”
What does he think of Tray Scott?
“Coach Scott is a really cool guy,” Fuller said. “You don’t find too many people like coach Scott. I actually really appreciate that. He’s still recruiting me hard knowing that I am committed and stuff like that. That takes a lot of guts to do that. He’s going out of his way to recruit somebody like me who is basically decided and I just really appreciate that.
“He’s a good guy. You don’t find too many recruiters like him.”
As of now, he said, Alabama, Florida State and Georgia are his only certain official visits.
How would UGA line up Fuller in its schemes?
“They want me to be a guy that’s big enough to play defensive tackle but is still fast enough to play defensive end and outside linebacker,” Fuller said. “I want to move across the line and be able to stand up and get to the quarterback.”
He’s thinking about fields of study that include business, finance and also a potential path to physical therapy.
He’s committed to Florida State, but still released a top 10?
Fuller raised some eyebrows earlier this month when he released a top 10. That’s even while he was still committed to FSU.
He said it was all about his brand. There was the feeling there that he still wanted to acknowledge all those schools who were doing a good job recruiting him.
“I’m still Florida State but I wanted to show those schools I was interested in them,” Fuller said. “I had a good weekend [visit earlier this month] but I wasn’t just closing down my recruiting.”
He committed to Jimbo Fisher’s staff about 15 months ago, but there was a spot when that status was iffy.
“It was pretty bad at one point,” Fuller said. “It was when the [new staff] had first got in. Nobody was communicating with me. I didn’t know what was going on. All you would see were de-commits everywhere. I was like, ‘Dang, what is going on?’ and they hadn’t been hitting me up. It just was crazy. We had gone up there a couple of times and we were not happy with what we were feeling. I didn’t know what to do at the time.”
Fuller now feels much better about that pledge. The communication is strong. He said he knows he is valued by the staff, his future defensive coordinator and his future position coach.
He’s said he’s still thinking about enrolling early, but he isn’t certain about whether he will sign during the early period.
Fuller plans to take all five of his official visits after his senior season.
“They are going to be quick,” he said.
What motivates Quashon Fuller?
Fuller plays football so his loved ones can prosper.
“I do this for my family,” he said. “I want to see my mom get out of Fort Myers and stuff like that. All that bad stuff she has been through. She never got to get what she wanted and stuff like that. It has always been about us and her family. I want to give her that opportunity to get some of the things she wanted in life.”
Her name is Mechelle Hadley.
“My mom is very important,” Fuller said. “She’s like my dad because my dad has never been there and is the reason why I do this. She’s the only person that has been there for me while I have been doing this football stuff, and she’s been at every football game. Every football camp. She’s always been able to provide, and I appreciate her for that. I just have to do this for her.”
Her favorite school is Florida State.
The Justin Fields connection with Quashon Fuller
We brought up his potential fields of study earlier. But how has he gotten to know Justin Fields at UGA?
“To be honest, I watched his shows,” Fuller said. “Every night before I went to sleep.”
“Out of all the quarterbacks from both seasons, I actually like both Jake Fromm and Justin Fields the best,” Fuller said. “Just for some reason. So when I got to meet them, we just clicked so fast. It was like we were good friends and boys already.”
That stunned Fuller.
“Jake Fromm is pretty cool but he is more country than me,” Fuller said. “He likes the outdoors but I’m not like that. I need my Wi-Fi and electricity and my air conditioning.”
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