Justin Foster acts fast. The first-year varsity player had three sacks for Crest High last year in the North Carolina state title game as a sophomore. His team won. That’s part of the reason why he’s rated as the No. 1 player in North Carolina for 2017.
The 17-year-old knocks down the A’s, too. He has a 4.2 grade-point average and picked up an offer from UGA on Tuesday. Give him credit for moving fast on that, too.
The 4-star linebacker told DawgNation on Wednesday night he’ll take an unofficial visit to UGA for the Georgia Southern game. Tight ends coach John Lilly made the offer. Foster capitalized on the interest he garnered after a great showing at Dawg Night in July.
“Any offer in the SEC is a big offer,” Foster said. “But then coming from Georgia it makes that a little bigger.”
Foster said he can see himself playing at UGA.
“I came down for Dawg Night and did pretty well even when there were a lot of kids for the coaches to look at,” Foster said. “But I didn’t see much of the campus. I saw the football stuff, but I’ve never been to a game or anything. I need to do that and be around the coaches to see how I might be able to fit in at Georgia.”
He said UGA has the potential to be in his top group when he narrows his recruiting focus after his junior season. His first offer came from Clemson. Clemson and Tennessee are recruiting him the hardest.
“They stand out because I talk to those schools more than any of my other schools,” Foster said, who named Florida, South Carolina and Vanderbilt as his other SEC offers.
The 6-foot-3, 240-pounder will pursue a degree in mechanical engineering. His family had a real-life drag race car growing up. So he wrapped his brain around engines and is now able to rebuild them.
Foster said he can run the 40-yard dash in 4.6 seconds. He didn’t play a lot of sports growing up, but focused on basketball. That’s where his lateral movement comes from.
He’s rated as the nation’s No. 5 outside linebacker and No. 60 overall prospect for 2017. Unbeaten Crest High is still alive in the North Carolina state playoffs.
Foster has accepted an invitation to play in the U.S. Army All-American game in 2017. It is early, but he thinks he might make his commitment at that game.
Jeff Sentell covers 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.