Shone Washington commits to Georgia

The Georgia Bulldogs have added another massive, athletic player to its incoming defensive line group. Class of 2022 defensive tackle and former LSU Commit Shone Washington has committed to the University of Georgia.

Washington's recruitment process has been one of ups and downs personally. Washington told UGASports what the dedication and belief Georgia has shown him has meant.

"It means a lot to me to see that a college far away from me, that doesn’t really know what goes on where I’m at, would stick with me through a hard time," Washington said.

Washington told UGASports that the championship standard of Georgia is something that he embraces fully.

"I've been on a team before that competed for championships," Washington said. "So I know that the standards will be high when I get there, and I’m going to do what I was brought in to do."

The talented interior defensive lineman shared with UGASports the moment he knew he wanted to be a Bulldog, along with the reactions of defensive line coach Tray Scott and head coach Kirby Smart.

"During my last trip up there," Washington said. "Usually when I go places, I think about home. But, seeing the love the fans, and just the state of Georgia show to their team, you got to love it."

"My dawg Trill (nickname for Scott) was hype!" Washington said. "This is what he has been waiting for, because everybody thought I was staying home. He (Scott) kept coming. No matter what teams were recruiting me, he made sure he stayed in contact with me. This was my first time really having a long conversation with Coach Smart, and he told me he was ready for me to come in there and soak everything in during that weekend before announcing it."

Washington is going to waste no time getting acclimated to the Georgia culture either.

"I’m looking forward to reaching my full potential there," Washington said. "I'm ready to meet my new teammates and just get to work. I’m coming with that Dawg mentality, and I know everybody is going to be with me on that. Actually, I will be arriving early in December to practice with the team for the bowl game. I'm excited about the opportunity to see guys like JD (Jordan Davis), Travon, and Sedrick up close prepare for the biggest games of their career. I'm truly blessed to be able to see those guys work before they leave."

A native of New Orleans, Louisiana, Washington is a prospect that Georgia identified early on as one it would like to target. The COVID-19 pandemic hampered Washington's ability to leave the state of Louisiana, and experiences from trips to Baton Rouge early on in his high school career were all the 6-foot-5, 306-pound athlete knew. By and large, Washington was committed to LSU because that was what he knew.

By January of 2021, Washington was seeing the end of the pandemic restrictions the NCAA had placed on recruiting in sight. At that point, Washington decommitted from LSU and reopened his recruitment. Georgia was one of the programs to reach out first with real interest.

June 1, 2021 was the very first day the NCAA deemed that prospects could visit college campuses. The fact that Washington made the trip from New Orleans to Athens on that day was telling of the interest on both sides of the equation.

Defensive line coach Tray Scott made it clear to Washington and those around him that Georgia had a very real interest. Georgia wide receiver coach Cortez Hankton is from the New Orleans area, and he and Washington's former teammate Sedrick Van Pran made the defensive prospect feel at home. Scott, Hankton, and Van Pran all played a part in Washington's return visit to Georgia in late July. Georgia hosted priority prospects for a cookout event called Dawg Days of Summer, and the Georgia staff made sure that Washington attended.

Washington returned to Athens for his official visit on the weekend of Charleston Southern. During that visit, Washington was able to have a long and meaningful conversation with head coach Kirby Smart and matters that extended beyond football. Due to some external factors, Washington had forgone his senior season of football at Warren Easton to focus on academics and get himself prepared for the college level.

That conversation went very well on both ends, and Washington walked away from it knowing that he would be committing to Georgia. Washington joins Bear Alexander and Tyre West as defensive tackles currently committed to the Dawgs in the Class of 2022.