Curtis Fann Jr. has had one of those avalanche weeks for recruiting. He didn’t have a single offer last week, but he was highly-regarded.
The recruiting world moves so fast these days that a promising player who doesn’t have an offer by the end of his sophomore year can be seen as a later bloomer. At least on the elite level.
Fann flashed a lot of potential in spite of that.
Athletic. Big. Strong. He produced during the practices leading up to the Elite Sophomores Classic last December. Those reps earned the respect of the well-known 2019 prospects who already had the big offers.
So Fann’s name was known somewhat in scouting circles by then. The 6-foot-3, 249-pounder moved so well some coaches thought he could even be an H-back or a tight end.
That didn’t make him that much easier to find in the 912 area code. Demetrius Robertson made it to elite status out of Savannah’s Coastal Empire region. Georgia freshman safety Richard LeCounte III is another success story. Nolan Smith, a 5-star UGA commit for 2019, also has gotten his name out there.
But it will be hard to ever see that area as a hotbed. Fann plays at Emanuel County Institute. Georgia fans will remember that as the home of former RB Washuan Ealey.
For now, that’s where Curtis Fann is from, too. He picked up his first offer three days ago. It was also of the SEC variety. That one from South Carolina will always be special.
Fann has told DawgNation he will truly consider the school which believed in him first.
“It feels great to know that a school like South Carolina believed in my talent,” Fann said this week.
But Auburn was next through the door. Then Georgia State and UAB. Alabama just offered today.
No offers to an Alabama offer in just three days. That’s quite a week.
What does he do best?
“Play with my hands,” Fann said. “Play fast and stop the run.”
He was thankful for that Crimson Tide offer.
“It is huge,” he said. “I am very excited about that offer.”
Fann’s connection to UGA on G-Day
Fann was just a fan on April 22. He wasn’t at any of those programs on the day Georgia held its spring game.
He was at UGA. Not as a recruit. But another one of that 63,000 or so in the stands.
“It was only my second time ever going to a college game,” Fann said. “I went to a Kennesaw State game during my freshman year but I just went to G-Day to watch it. I wasn’t invited. Not as a recruit. Not yet. But I was thinking that day I would work to make sure I got invited to visit UGA. That was my goal.”
He thinks it would be an honor to rep his home state. What would a UGA offer mean?
“I would be so excited,” Fann said with a glee that would be very hard to convey in print.
That’s quite a turnaround. Just a fan in the stands at G-Day. Not even as an invited recruit. Now he has an offer from Alabama less than a month later.
Fann said he was offered by Crimson Tide defensive coordinator Jeremy Pruitt. Pruitt called his coach and shared that news. Alabama sees him as a defensive lineman.
He also said he has yet to hear from UGA. When it does, it will matter. He hopes to show the Bulldogs what he can do up close when he camps there in June.
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“I have always been a Georgia fan,” Fann said. “It is my home state. My school now (ECI) is named the Bulldogs. Then that is the Georgia Bulldogs. It really can’t get too much better than that.”
He’s also very tight with Smith, too.
Get to know Curtis Fann Jr.
Fann sounds like he will always be that big brother type. The responsible protector with three younger sisters. His siblings range from four to six years old.
That’s what he is like away from the field. He likes holding babies. He cradles a younger cousin right now that is only eight months old.
But he’s no baby in the weight room. Fann can bench press about 285 pounds, power clean 265 and squat another 405 pounds.
Why does he play football? He said he loves the game and the camaraderie of being on a team. That team concept appeals to him.
He also really likes to win. That’s been a key motivator since he started playing the game when he was seven years old.
Fann lined up at both defensive and defensive tackle at the Elite Sophomores Classic back in December. He fared better on the inside as he used his quickness to get off blocks. That’s where he picked up the sack he recorded in the game.