Kelee Ringo: His decision, a snake, that viral visit and a new NCAA rule

SAN ANTONIO, Tex. — This is a story about Kelee Ringo, a scavenger hunt, a slithery sliver of “Sunshine” and a mom, one viral unofficial visit photo and a new NCAA ruling.

Ringo and his mother are already part of NCAA history. So much that they made a rule about it.

Here’s the part where we let a little “Sunshine” come in on this narrative. “Sunshine” is the name of the pet snake of UGA football staffer Bryant Gantt.

“Sunshine” has been a part of several visits over the last few years, including the continuing tradition of the May scavenger hunt weekend.

Enter Ringo. He’s a very important remaining 5-star target for UGA who will make his decision known Saturday during the All-American Bowl.

“My mom actually on my Georgia visit she took a picture with a snake and the NCAA made a rule like two weeks later that there’s no live animals able to be taken on a photo shoot on a college campus,” Ringo said. “So my mom I think actually made that rule for the NCAA.”

His mother, Tralee Hale, was the one with the 5-star courage in that encounter. There’s a classic pic probably still floating around the internet of Hale applying press coverage to the reptile while Ringo is using his 4.35 (laser) speed in the 40 to exit stage left out of frame.

Ringo loves crab legs. Alaskan King Crab specifically. Reptiles are another matter entirely.

“I don’t like snakes,” Ringo said. “Any type of snake, man. If it is a garden snake I don’t care, man. I don’t like the way they move.”

Ringo rates as the nation’s No. 1 CB and No. 6 overall prospect for 2020 on the 247Sports Composite rankings.

His decision announcement will have Georgia as a prime contender along with Oregon and Texas. That decision drops on Saturday with the 1 p.m EST broadcast of the All-American Bowl on NBC. It is not yet known at what time of the broadcast his ceremony will take place.

Considering his status as a national top 10 recruit, it will likely slot later in the broadcast.

Kelee Ringo was clocked at a 4.35 laser 40 at the Rivals 5-star Challenge in Atlanta this past summer. (Jeff Sentell/DawgNation)/Dawgnation)

Kelee Ringo: Check out the video interview above 

Ringo was fun to watch in the All-American Bowl practice setting in Texas this week. There was a part where a few recruits started to boil up about guys making plays.

The young man from Saguaro High (Swah-Ro) in Arizona just kept it real.

“Guys don’t you all know everyone is an All-American out here,” he said. “All-Americans. Guys are all going to make plays.”

What did his decision come down to?

“Feel comfortable where I am going,” he said. “I feel like I want to live there for the next three or four years. Just built a great relationship with [coaches] and also my everyday life outside of football is a big factor as well.”

Check out the featured video element above for a 1-on-1 with Ringo on the following topics:

DawgNation: All-American game coverage