State’s top offensive lineman on UGA: ‘I’m really feeling Georgia’
Andrew Thomas, the state of Georgia’s top offensive lineman for the Class of 2017, took another trip to UGA on Saturday for G-Day.
In short, he loved it. The video interview above details most of his thoughts after he’s had a few days to process what he saw and felt. He said he couldn’t imagine how he’d have felt if he would’ve missed that experience. He raved about the crowd, the vibe and the arm talent of Jacob Eason.
Has he ever taken a better visit to a college campus?
“I don’t think so,” said Thomas, who could only compare the Florida State-Miami game trip he went on last year to G-Day.
The nation’s No. 69 overall prospect and No. 13 offensive tackle said UGA and Clemson are still sticking out to him right now. He now feels UGA is recruiting him harder than anyone else.
That’s evident by not one but two different visits to his school by UGA offensive line coach Sam Pittman last Friday on the first day that coaches were allowed to go on the road to evaluate, but not speak to, recruits.
“Coach Pittman is definitely recruiting me harder than any other coach,” Thomas said. “He’s been up to Pace here four times since he’s been at Georgia. The first day of the live period last Friday that coaches could come see us work out he was the first coach I saw. He actually came twice. He came in the morning and was here to talk to my coach and then he came by to watch us work out and lift and stuff.”
Thomas said Clemson is recruiting both him and elite 2018 offensive guard Jamaree Salyer hard, too. Salyer is the nation’s top-rated guard for 2018. The Tigers plan to come see Thomas in about two weeks, but he doesn’t have the relationship with Clemson offensive line coach Robbie Caldwell he does with Pittman.
The best relationship that Salyer and Thomas have with a coach on the Clemson staff is with running backs coach Tony Elliott. That staff will have to compete with Pittman for the duo. Ask the boys about their best Pittman stories and both start laughing.
“There’s a lot of them,” Thomas said.
Notre Dame is also in the mix with both. They both plans to take a second visit to South Bend this summer. Alabama and Tennessee are also on Thomas’ radar for subsequent visits. He’s not ready to set a Top 5 or anything like that, but it would not be a stretch to presume he’ll eventually play for one of those schools.
Thomas is currently rehabbing a sprained AC shoulder joint. That injury occurred at the Nike regional combine for “The Opening” at Buford High School. He fell on his shoulder and kept going for two more reps. He even blocked one guy with one arm.
What else did he say?
In the spirit of television legend David Letterman, we’ve opted to share a Top 10 list of the best things Thomas said about UGA in the video interview above regarding his thoughts on the Bulldogs.
What were the questions that sparked those responses? You’ll have to watch the video.
The 10 best things Thomas said on his thoughts about UGA after G-Day
- “It was just an overall great experience.”
- “It (G-Day) made me want to put on the pads and play.”
- “I already liked Georgia a lot. (G-Day) definitely moved Georgia up a lot farther.”
- “It seems like the program is on the uprise. It seems like Kirby is starting to get the fans and everything into it because 100,000 fans at a spring game is pretty ridiculous. It seems like they are on the way to something big time.”
- “(UGA offensive line coach Sam Pittman) tells us about the dream offensive line he wants. That’s me, (2018 Pace offensive lineman) Jamaree (Salyer), (2017 UGA commit) Netori (Johnson), (2017 UGA commit) Justin (Shaffer) and (2017 four-star offensive tackle) D’Antne Demery.”
- “He (Sam Pittman) said he’s definitely holding a spot for me even all the way up to signing day. He definitely wants me to come up there and they need me.”
- “I am liking everything about the school right now.”
- “The new quarterback Jacob Eason is really good. We saw him in the spring game and it’s ridiculous. I met him, but that’s crazy. He can throw the ball really well. …. I am pretty sure that he will attract a lot of recruits with his talent.”
- “As soon as (Eason) walked (onto the field) the whole stadium started yelling, I thought Nick Chubb came in or something like that.”
- “The G-Day visit was definitely an eye-opener for a lot of kids. Not even the 2018 kids. The 2017 kids who were there were like ‘Wow’ about Georgia.”
Jeff Sentell covers UGA football and UGA recruiting for AJC.com and The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Follow him on Twitter for the latest on who’s on their way to play Between the Hedges. Unless otherwise indicated, player rankings and ratings are from the 247Sports Composite.
