McGhee commits to Georgia

Class of 2016 standout Tyrique McGhee (Fort Valley, Ga./Peach County) has long been on commitment watch for the Bulldogs, and Sunday

morning, following an impressive junior day, he made the news official.

"It's just home. It feels like home every time I visit. I can't help but light up

when I talk about Georgia. You can tell," McGhee said of his declaration. "I

love Coach [Mark] Richt, and I want to ball out."

The Bulldogs were long thought to lead the way, and the three-star defensive

back says that's not a misplaced assertion.

"Yes, that's been the case. There's been a couple of times when I was open to other schools, but lately, it's just been Georgia,"

McGhee said. "I loved them, and they showed me love back. I wanted to be a Dawg."

Perhaps more importantly to McGhee, the Dawgs wanted him back. Coaches were

clear during yesterday's visit that he would be called upon to bring others into

the mix.

"They expect me to lead the class and go ahead and start it off." McGhee said.

"They're on me hard, and

they want me to get the other guys in. They expect me to come in and have some

playing time. I want to try to bring in Chad Clay of Peachtree

Ridge. He's another big-time corner in the state. I've got a lot of guys in the

state, but not only here. We're looking at the whole country. As soon as I

finish this plug, I'm going to start recruiting."

Georgia's defensive style was also highly appealing, especially Jeremy Pruitt's

"country, old school" ways.

"Coach Pruitt plays about five or six defensive backs at a time, because he's an

old country guy." McGhee said. "He plays a lot of DBs. There will be times we'll have six DBs,

and they could be freshman. It doesn't matter. If you can play, you can play.

He'll put you on the field. That's what I like about Coach Pruitt, he's just

country and old school, and I like that a lot."

Pruitt will look to use the versatile athlete at spots across the defensive

backfield, including filling some rather large shoes that have just been

vacated.

"I can play anything on the defensive side of the ball." McGhee said. "I play a lot of nickel,

especially at the Rising Seniors game. I'm a lockdown corner, and I can play

anything. The spot Damian Swann played a lot was a lot of nickel

and blitzing, and I think Jeremy Pruitt sees me playing a little bit of that

spot."

The timing was right for McGhee, who feels his final questions were answered in

regards to campus life.

"I knew it." McGhee said. "I just had to see if outside of football it's where I'd be

comfortable, like going to classes or in the buildings. It was just the overall

feel of the campus. That topped it off and sealed the deal. My

family and I talked about it the whole ride back, and they supported me. They're

Dawgs now. They're supportive."

Though there's still plenty of time to go in the process, McGhee says, barring

something crazy, he's solidly committed to the Bulldogs.

"It's a hard commitment." McGhee said. "I'm solid. It's a hard commit. You know, something

crazy could happen, but I'm a Dawg. I'll be signing Georgia papers. Just wait for 2016. We've got North Carolina the first game of the

season, and we're looking forward to the start. I just want to say 'Go Dawgs.'

Tell everyone I've got the state on lockdown."