UGA stands to gain a large addition to its Class of 2016 via the preferred walk-on route.
Cheryl Williams, the mother of Appling County senior Allen Williams, told DawgNation that her son was offered the chance to become a preferred walk-on for the Bulldogs at offensive tackle this fall. The 6-foot-8, 340-pounder had previously signed a junior college scholarship with Hutchinson College in Kansas.
Williams already wears size 17 shoes.
“It is literally ‘BigShoes.com’ all the time with him,” she said.
That offer came on Sunday evening. Williams, who participated in the Rising Seniors program in 2014, was measured at that 6-foot-8 mark during UGA’s “Dawg Night” elite prospect camp last July. He is an unranked prospect and does not have a star rating.
Yet it looks like he will still have a chance to see if he can play in the Southeastern Conference.
“They just offered him (as a preferred walk-on) so we will go next week and see what is going on I guess,” Williams said. “One of the coaches talked to him Saturday and told him that they wanted him to go up next Monday and look around and talk to him. Then they called him back Sunday and talked to him for a long time and discussed his grades and his film and then offered him on the phone.”
The 5-foot-11 Williams said he said her son has a 3.6 grade-point average and should qualify for the Hope Scholarship. He started his high school career at Pierce County High, but then played his last two seasons at Appling.
Will he accept the offer?
“I know that is what he wants and he wants to go next week and also be able to tell Hutchinson first whenever he makes a decision,” Cheryl Williams said. “I guess we will see what grants and stuff he can get when he goes up on that visit.”
She also said the last couple of days have been a blur.
“He was off the chain when he got that offer,” she said. “We all are. That’s why I don’t really remember who the coach was who gave him the offer. He was so excited when he called me about it. His voice was quivering he was so happy.”
Williams also has a younger brother. Luke Williams is only three inches shorter than his younger brother and already weighs 302 pounds. He is just a freshman in high school.
“He has a brother right behind him who is going to be bigger,” Williams said. “He’s a football player, too.”
It appears that the new UGA staff will also not hesitate to offer a preferred walk-on opportunity to a player it feels can develop in the program. UGA lured kicker Mitchell Wasson away from a similar opportunity at Alabama last week. It becomes especially appealing when the in-state prospect can also qualify for the Hope Scholarship program.
Williams said her son chose Hutchinson Community College in Kansas because he didn’t have a major scholarship offer from the big schools. Unless otherwise indicated, player rankings and ratings are from the 247Sports Composite.
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.
