Offer excites Carter

Friday night was an odd night for 2014 Norcross defensive end Lorenzo Carter.

To get the evening started, Carter and his Norcross Blue Devil teammates were upset in heart breaking fashion but Mill Creek on the basketball hardwood.

As if the frustration of defeat wasn't enough, the star defender's phone started to blow up with text messages and tweets from people asking if Georgia had offered him a football scholarship.

While Carter knew nothing of an offer from UGA, everything would be resolved on Saturday morning.

"Well everybody was texting me and asking me if UGA offered. Then I saw it on twitter where everybody was asking me, and I was like 'No, I haven't been told that by anybody,'" laughed Carter. "So I texted my recruiting coach at Norcross and he told me that he didn't know of anything. Then I just went to sleep. I woke up this morning and I had a message on my phone where he told me that he called Coach (Bryan) McClendon and Coach McClendon told him that they had offered me. So I gave Coach McClendon a call, and I was talking to him for a good little bit. He told me that they did offer and then I talked to Coach (Todd) Grantham. He told me that they had offered and he wants to get me up there soon. So I will be making plans to get up there soon."

A few weeks before the 2013 National Signing Day, Carter already has close to 20 offers, but he admits there is something different about having opportunity to play at his choice of the major schools in his home state.

"It's big because it is the home school. It is the home state school," said Carter of the offer from UGA. "With Georgia and Georgia Tech, I now have offers from both so, it's basically giving me a lot of respect in this state since I have offers from both big schools. It's huge coming from UGA being in the SEC. I've always wanted to play in the SEC."

Most recruits grow up with a favorite team whether that team ends up holding and edge for said recruit.

Carter, however, was a fan of a different sport all together growing up, but has followed the Bulldogs closely in recent years.

"I really didn't grow up college football. I watched college basketball with my family. It was always UNC and Duke," he said. "Every since I have started watching college football and being into it, Georgia has been dominant. It is great to be considered to go to a dominant school like Georgia's."

One thing about Georgia that has caught Carter's eye is Todd Grantham's success with developing big time pass rushers in Justin Houston and Jarvis Jones.

The four-star prospect says that Grantham has similar intentions for him should he end up in Athens.

"When I talked with Coach Grantham today, he told me that is where he would put me at if I went there," he said. "When I get up there he wants to sit me down and watch some film and show me how I would fit into that position. I'm just looking forward to seeing his philosophy and seeing what he plans on doing that with me."

With so many offers already in for Carter and many more likely to come in the near future, the two-sport star admits that it is a good time to be standing in his own shoes.

"It feels good. I made a big move coming from Whitefield (Academy), a single-A private school, a big move, and I'm just glad everything worked out," he said. "I'm blessed, and hard work pays off. It was a great year for the team and for me as an individual, just a great year all around."

But did he expect this type of success and attention when he decided to make football his second sport just a few years ago?

"Of course not. I started playing football as something I could do so I could stop getting so many fouls," laughed Carter. "Football just kept coming easier and I started working on football more. Then I realized I could really start to make my name in football. It was just something I tried out. If I tried out tennis, I might have become and All-American tennis player. I don't know."

At this point in his recruitment, a few schools are already standing out for the Rivals250 junior, and he is leaning toward a certain system in which he would like to play at the next level.

"UGA, Alabama, and Florida, the big SEC schools, and Florida State, Clemson, and Notre Dame stand out the most," he said. "I probably prefer a 3-4 system, but I'm not looking away from the 4-3. If I played in the 4-3 defense, I would want to play outside linebacker."

As someone who confesses that he never expected to be a blue chip football recruit, Carter is still new to the recruiting process.

He does, however, have an idea of how he wants to handle things, and is looking to a teammate and 2013 prospect as an example.

"I'm going to take it day by day," said Carter. "Talking to Alvin (Kamara) about it, he doesn't really know where he is going, so I'm just going to go with the flow."