BREAKING: Nation’s No. 3 RB and priority UGA target Kendall Milton sets his final 4 schools
Kendall Milton is known for picking and choosing the right holes. He’s also done a little bit of that same this week in regard to sorting out his upcoming college decision.
The nation’s No. 3 RB for the 247Sports Composite ratings for this cycle did as he said he would Friday night. He shared his final 4 schools via his Twitter account.
The 6-foot-2, 220-pound rising senior did include the Georgia Bulldogs among that lot. Milton, who has already set an official visit to LSU for next month, also included that SEC West program in the mix.
Milton’s other top schools included both Alabama and Ohio State.
FINAL 4❤️ pic.twitter.com/9CQ90ZAtG2
— Kendall Milton (@_KendallMilton) May 17, 2019
It was more validation than a surprise when it comes to his interest in the Bulldogs. Milton used an unofficial visit for his first trip to Georgia for G-Day last month.
That trip went very well. So much that Milton used the term “amazing” to describe the visit when asked about his three-plus day trip to Athens.
The nation’s No. 21 overall prospect also shared what he liked best about the program after getting the chance to take in a practice, check out the campus and also see a simulated game environment for the G-Day scrimmage.
What was his favorite part of that trip?
“I would say the dedication to the athlete’s careers after football was a big highlight for me,” Milton said.
Why Kendall Milton is important for the 2020 class
Have you seen the way D’Andre Swift can carry the football? Swift will be the undisputed lead back for the Bulldogs this year. It will shock no one to see him leave for the NFL Draft after his junior season.
He’s just that good and a running back’s lifetime inventory of carries at their peak is just that precious. Senior RB Brian Herrien has been a tremendous reserve member of the RB room at Georgia over his last three seasons, but this is the year where he sets up for a super-sized portion of the carries.
Those two departures would leave the Bulldogs with just three scholarship running backs for the 2020 season. Zamir White, as talented and heralded as they come, has yet to record a single college carry.
He’s expected to bounce all the way back this fall from back-to-back knee injuries which ended his high school career in the North Carolina state playoffs and then wiped away his true freshman season at Georgia.
Kenny McIntosh, a 2019 signee, has yet to enroll at Georgia. Sophomore James Cook will also return. He was one of the nation’s top 5 RB prospects in the 2018 cycle along with White but he has also yet to earn a featured role in Athens.
That’s why a target like Milton is so important in the 2020 class. Milton wants to come into a situation where he can play right away as a freshman and the Georgia RB depth chart will allow him to do that.
That is also what Milton is looking for among his final four choices.
“There’s definitely an opportunity for early playing time out of the gate,” his father Chris Milton said of the Bulldogs. “Strong academic base. Just the resources of the program and the personality of the coaches. That was definitely that was good.”
There is also a longstanding comfort level with running backs coach Dell McGee.
“I can 100 percent say that he was absolutely 100 percent impressed with coach McGee,” Chris Milton said. “He was impressed with the resources and the supporting staff at Georgia. He got to know the other coaches.”
The same can be said about Georgia coach Kirby Smart.
“I actually like Kirby Smart,” Chris Milton told DawgNation earlier this year. “He has a great sense of humor, a great personality and he’s one of those people when it is time to take the ‘head coach hat’ off it is time to take that head coach hat off. He’s like: I’m personable, I’m hanging out. I want to laugh. I want to joke and be just like one of the guys.”
“But when it is time for him to coach, I’m 100 percent the head coach. Know that I love you, but I’m 100 percent the head coach there. I can just see that consistent in that program and that’s why I would say that one word as ‘family’ there with Georgia.”
