When Sedrick Van Pran-Granger was in Athens on his official visit, he couldn’t help but stroll down memory lane.
Georgia was his first big offer. His first big trip to one of those cathedrals that SEC fans refer to as their stadiums.
“It was where it all started,” Sedrick Van Pran-Granger said. “When I was on my official visit and I passed by the stadium, I thought about my first time in that stadium. My first camp and workout. I almost passed out that day.”
That’s a story worth telling on this day. Van Pran-Granger, a long-time Georgia commit, confirmed his intent to play for the Bulldogs by signing his national letter-of-intent on National Signing Day.
It was where things started for him as a prospect. It will also be where he continues his college football career.
The 6-foot-4, 295-pounder ranks as the nation’s No. 1 center and the No. 59 overall prospect on the 247Sports Composite ratings. He is now the seventh signee for the offensive line class for Kirby Smart and first-year offensive line coach Matt Luke in Athens.
When he didn’t sign with Georgia back during the early period, it allowed the rumors to swirl. There was strong late interest from both Alabama and Florida. He gave official visits to both of those schools and Georgia over the last three weeks of January.
The reason for that was because of a team tradition at Warren Easton High (New Orleans, La.) football programs. Easton’s players all sign together. That is in February on the traditional signing date. Not surfing the early period.
That only amplified a lot of the worries for DawgNation about his commitment status. Especially after former line coach Sam Pittman left UGA to become the head coach at Arkansas. Pittman was a big piece of the puzzle in why he committed to the Bulldogs.
But it wasn’t the only reason. Van Pran-Granger showed his maturity by continuing to look at other things beyond football. That was the networking and alumni opportunities for UGA graduates in the Atlanta area. He compared the economic engine of the Metro area to other potential college destinations like Baton Rouge, Gainesville and Tuscaloosa.
He also plans to major in graphic design.
“When he got into high school his high school coaches wanted him to drop the gifted art program and take on another physical education class but I told them no,” his father said. “Sedrick is gifted in art and he loves it. I didn’t want him to do that because that is his talent. I didn’t want him to throw away that talent for football or anything else. Especially for one of his gifts. He’s really gifted in art and I glad that he wants to do that and use that and utilize his God-given ability.”
Where Georgia stood academically in those national ratings mattered to him along with the weight of the Georgia degree. Van Pran-Granger maintained the following statement when it came to Georgia and that pledge.
“Comfortable,” he would always say.
The nation’s No. 1 center said that in Orlando last month at the Under Armour All-American Game. He repeated it later in January after his official visit to UGA.
Van Pran-Granger is now officially a Bulldog. Comfortably.
Getting to know more about Sedrick Van Pran-Granger
Sedrick Granger, his father, plans to move to the Metro Atlanta area sometime over the next year. It will continue a trend. The outlook is to relocate to Cobb County.
The new Bulldog lives with his father and plans to add his father’s last name to his legal name now that he is 18 years old. Those papers are in their Granger household.
The Van Pran-Granger family has a lot of ties to the Metro area. They have relatives in DeKalb County. He has another “uncle” who lives in Cobb County. When he would take his weekend trips to visit UGA, he would often spend at least one night in their Kennesaw home.
Van Pran-Granger is an uncommon recruit. His maturity is clearly evident from the moment you speak to him.
His Warren Easton teammates voted him a team captain just prior to the playoffs when he was just a sophomore in the program. That does not happen often in high school football. Especially a strong high school programs like Warren Easton in Louisiana.
According to his father, he has always been the way.
“He’s always been driven,” Granger said. “I was hard on him coming up and I think he kind of used that as ammunition and determination and that make him work harder. He was always a pretty driven kid.”
He announced his decision at a ceremony from Warren Easton on National Signing Day. He pulled out and put on a simple Georgia hat. Nothing elaborate.
His family then broke out their matching T-shirts behind him at that ceremony. Van Pran-Granger will become the first member of his family circle to play major college football at the D-1 level.
There’s some irony here that he will play college football in Georgia.
“He’s been coming to that area and to Georgia since he was a baby,” Sedrick Granger said.
When Granger and his family had to evacuate years ago for Hurricane Katrina, they traveled to the Metro Atlanta area.
“He evacuated with me out there,” his father said. “Just the natural he’s been out there so much. I was thinking when we first got the invite to the Georgia camp and I was thinking to myself ‘Man, wouldn’t that be nice if he went to school there’ because my wife and I we always liked the region and thought about relocating there even before we got the Georgia offer.”
Let’s take a second with that point. Granger explained how he told his son about having to evacuate because of the hurricane and the reasons behind what they were doing. It was something they had to do, but it stuck him how well his 4-year-old son responded to it.
“I used to treat him like he was 10 or 12 years old and after the initial situation now I think back and think of how well he handled it and I have to remind myself that he was only four years old when we did that,” his father said. “He certainly didn’t act like a four-year-old having to evacuate from a hurricane to another state several hundred miles away. He was just advanced and mature for his age even back then.”
Consider that as a seed planted early on about the state of Georgia.
“Then we got that offer and it all kind of made sense. Especially when Georgia ended up being his own main choice. I was just like feeling that I wouldn’t have been mad if he chose Georgia at the time and then everything else worked out for him.”
A father’s view: The Sedrick Van Pran-Granger decision
Van Pran-Granger is instantly the type of young person that peers will gravitate to. Even the other All-Americans at the Under Armour setting. He commands respect by the way he goes about his business.
He is certainly future team captain material in Athens. The 4.0 student is also adept at picking up nicknames. He was given the name “Burger” for his resemblance to a former strong player at Easton coming up.
That stuck, but he’s also always had the nickname “Doo” among the members of his extended family. It has been that way since he was a little kid.
“Thats what I call him,” his father said. “I call him ‘Doo’ more than I call him Sedrick.”
His father also watched the fellowship closely between his son and the UGA commitments in the class at the Under Armour All-American Game.
Granger noticed the same things any observer would have down in Orlando.
“I honestly don’t see any much changing here,” Granger said on January 2. “I think that playing with those guys at the Under Armour game really kind of strengthened his decision. I noticed him and Broderick Jones and Chad Lindberg and all the guys just kind of hung together, you know? I saw that. He pretty much had a relationship there with all the Georgia commits and all those guys.”
“I feel like it strengthened it.”
He would ask his son from time to time how he was holding up with his decision.
“Honesty he was always like ‘I am good with Georgia’ and that never really changed up for him,” Granger said. “He honestly just had a couple of visits that he just wanted to use.”
How did he articulate the connection to the Bulldogs? Well, it sounds like father and son are on the same page with that one.
“I tell people in my opinion that there were a lot of good choices,” Granger said. “But I just think that UGA just has everything for him. Good academics. Good region. Good football and it is really home to us. I have a bunch of family and friends out there. That is how he feels as well. He just kind of can get everything there.”
Now that it is all said and done, this is certainly a decision that he endorses.
“I think he made a great decision,” Sedrick Granger said this week. “The university and the reach of the University of Georgia is something that definitely appeals to him. He’s noticed it. I’ve very very happy for him with his decision.”