Want to attack every day with the latest UGA football recruiting info? That’s what the Intel brings. The play sheet today calls for an introduction to 2021 RB Lovasea Carroll.
Lovasea’ Carroll grew up in Georgia. He even pulled for the Bulldogs growing up, too.
He has moved to Florida to play for a prep powerhouse at IMG Academy. The 4-star RB will spend his junior and senior seasons there.
That’s the path that former Bulldog Isaac Natua took to Athens. Current Bulldog Nolan Smith is a former Ascender, too. Future Bulldog DT Warren Brinson is committed to playing for UGA in the 2020 class.
Carroll will be back in Athens this weekend. It marks his first game, but he was in Sanford Stadium for G-Day this year.
It will also be a tad ironic that his hometown team will face the program he was committed to for approximately four months earlier this year.
“When I think about it I will be going to Georgia on Saturday and will be on Georgia’s sideline,” he said. “I find it a little weird but then I don’t [find it too weird] because I feel like I made the right decision to de-commit then from South Carolina.”
The Class of 2021 recruit even cut his list of top schools to eight this week.
Why did Georgia make that cut?
“Georgia is a hometown school so I always grew up watching UGA every Saturday,” Carroll said. “I always wanted the opportunity to play for them. Since I first visited there, I feel like Georgia has always been like family to me when I first got there. Everybody was open up to me and shaking my hand. Georgia has been like family to me since Day 1.”
Rapid-fire: Quick-hit things to know about Lovasea Carroll
Let’s do this in the same fashion that Carroll puts his foot down in the ground and goes. The former Warren County star (Warrenton, Ga.) clocked a 10.8 in the 100 meters at the Georgia High School Association State championship track meet back in 2018.
He was that fast back then. Already.
What else is there to know about Carroll heading into the visit?
- Ranks as the nation’s No. 8 RB and No. 136 overall prospect (247Sports Composite)
- His first name is pronounced “Low-Va-See-Ay.”
- His Hudl profile page credits him with 4.44 speed in the 40. It does seem credible.
- Carroll plans to major in engineering
- Plans to work toward a top 5 and take those officials in the spring
- He’s put on about 10 pounds since coming to IMG earlier this spring
- Ohio State sounds like another strong contender down the line for his eventual decision. But he has yet to visit that program.
- He’s averaging a gaudy 13.6 yards per rush attempt playing a top-flight national schedule. His 27 attempts have led to 367 yards and four TDs through six games this year.
- Carroll has two 100-yard games this fall after coming back from an injury.
- He was once rated as an athlete, but his time at IMG Academy has shown him he’s a running back.
- The schools that are recruited him now want him strictly at RB, too
- He checked out the Gators in Florida earlier this year. This will be his second college visit this season.
Carroll came from a small GHSA Class A school at Warren County but said the football and practice life hasn’t been the biggest adjustment. Performing at one of the country’s top high school football programs this fall hasn’t been that steep of a transition.
That’s even though he left behind a program that won 15 games since 2016 prior to this year, but that hasn’t been too daunting.
Carroll said it has been the classwork. He feels like he’s already getting prepared for college coursework. IMG affords its athletes the chance to graduate early. They can be a mid-year enrollee at their eventual college team.
He also appreciates the impressive facilities at IMG.
“A big thing is being fresh going into college,” Carroll said. “Instead of taking beatings at Warren County and not having the right tools or facilities to recover after games and stuff, that’s where I’ve really also noticed why this was the right move.”
There’s a reality in the middle of all this. When a player like Carroll leaves his high school community, it is always polarizing. But he was in a situation where it is hard to envision a player sticking around when the following applies: 1) An incredibly talented player with major offers; 2) Few other players like that in the program; 3) The current program lacks significant tradition to compel them to stay.
Paragraphs can be repped out about sticking with the high school community and playing with the young men that a prospect grew up with. Let’s not forget being there for the program which develops them into a top prospect at an early age. But those things don’t seem as tangible for any top prospect at a Class A program that hasn’t had a lot of success or a great tradition.
Staying home when one plays at a Buford, Colquitt County, Roswell or a Walton is one thing. Opting to stay in the same GHSA Class A program is another matter altogether.
Lovasea Carroll: A few more things about his college plans
Carroll put some thought into why he chose to de-commit from South Carolina. He had a great initial visit, loved the vibe in Columbia and committed on April 28.
He backed off that pledge on Sept. 1.
“I was a junior and committed early and I felt like I just wanted to explore more instead of being just stuck on just one school,” he said. “Instead of just being committed to one school and being pressured to stay committed there I went ahead and made the decision to de-commit.”
He said that Dell McGee and Georgia have been recruiting him hard since that Sept. 1 date when schools can reach out to schools directly. He said that he speaks to McGee about 1-2 times per week now.
“He says that Georgia likes what I have speed wise and he’s just hungry to get the guys who will bring Georgia another national championship,” Carroll said. “He’s hungry. I want to be that guy in college who will come in, produce early and hopefully win a national championship.”
Carroll said that Georgia’s pedigree at the RB position is not lost on him. He grew up an Oregon fan watching Marcus Mariota shine for the program.
“But since my middle school days and high school days, I have been watching Georgia play every Saturday,” he said. “I can say I grew up pulling for Georgia and that I am a good Georgia fan.”
He said the Buckeyes have also made a big push. His IMG Academy teammate Lejond Cavazos recruits him hard to join him. Cavazos is a strong Ohio State commit in the 2020 class.
“Since I got my Ohio State offer and since September 1 they have been my heaviest one and the school recruiting me very hard in hitting me up every day,” he said. “The running back coach there hits me up every day making sure how I am doing and checking up on me.”
He described what he is looking for in the right college fit.
“First I look at academics and then what the running back depth chart will be like when I get there,” he said. “They probably are just going to use me from the jump and I plan on being there and playing as a true freshman in my first year.”
Another IMG Academy RB to pay attention to
While keeping tabs on Carroll so far this year, it has been impossible to avoid 2022 RB Kaytron “Fatman” Allen.
First of all, it is an all-time nickname right there for a speed back. Allen is killing it this fall at IMG.The “Fatman” comes in at 5 feet, 10 inches and 203 pounds. He might be a “Fatman” because of his plump rushing totals, but he picked up that nickname growing up.
“I was fat when I was a baby then that just always been my nickname when I was little when I made a name for myself back home,” Allen told DawgNation.
Think that Carroll’s stats are robust? Allen has 82 carries for 658 yards (8.0 yards per attempt) and 10 touchdowns so far in 2019.
Check out his early film below.
Other visitors in town for Georgia-South Carolina
Carroll won’t be the only elite 2021 prospect in the stands on Saturday. David Daniel, the 4-star safety who recently committed to Georgia, will also be in Sanford Stadium for his first game as a committed recruit.
Addison Nichols is another interesting name to share. The Class of 2022 OL target already ranks as one of the nation’s top OLs (nation’s No. 6 OT/No. 89 overall) on the 247Sports Composite ratings.
There is a lot to appreciate about this young man. He’s a Beta Club and National Junior Honor Society Member and he’s also an Eagle Scout.
While watching this film and seeing the former FBU All-American already is an at an early age, it becomes a chore trying to conjure up a box he doesn’t already check.
I’m still waiting to see if he is a state wrestling champion or holds any black belts in Judo or Jujitsu. Or he has a relative that played in the NFL or made an Olympic team.
Other than that, this guy is already about as solid as it gets for Greater Atlanta Christian.
Miss any Intel? The DawgNation recruiting archive will get you up to speed just as fast as former Georgia All-American LB Roquan Smith found the ball after the snap.