Zamir White will pick Georgia or UNC

The number one running back in the nation for 2018 will make his decision at noon today. Who gets him? 

Zamir White

of Scotland County is a talented back with power and speed(10.5 in the 100 meters), and he could really impact the future of any football program in America.

So which programs have a chance to get his pledge today?

His final choices are Alabama, Clemson, Georgia, Ohio State and UNC. But my gut feeling is that Alabama and Ohio State are only listed out of respect for the coaches of those schools. White wants to be close to home and those schools are probably too far away for his liking. Ohio State can also be eliminated because of a recent verbal commitment from Tennessee running back Master Teague III.

Unfortunately, for Clemson football fans, they are the next team to be eliminated. White appeared to be high on the Tigers after the initial interest and visits but hasn’t be around the campus lately. If total visits are used in any way to determine his level of interest in a school, then Clemson is out of this race. His last visit was on April 8, and he left early that day to go to Georgia. Scotland County coach Richard Bailey weighed in on White’s lack of visits to Clemson on Dawg Sports Radio.

"…..It just hasn’t worked out as much for getting him on campus there. For whatever reason, whether it’s been the weather at times during the football season, last year or this spring. He would have things pop up and just couldn’t get there. I feel bad that he has not been there, maybe as much as, he has the other schools. But Clemson is still in it.”"

Clemson does have the potential to win another national title soon which is important to White, but so is a chance for immediate playing time and the presence of redshirt juniors C.J. Fuller and Adam Choice, sophomore Tavien Feaster and freshman Travis Etienne could make it tough for him to see the field. All four of them could possibly be in the mix for playing time again in 2018-19.

Now that leaves him with Georgia and home state school UNC.

Can the Tarheels get White to stay home?

White attended coach Larry Fedora’s Freak Show last Saturday. The Freak Show is a gathering of committed players and the uncommitted top targets. He was seen hanging out and tossing a football with his best friend Jonathan Smith, who is a sophomore linebacker at UNC and a former teammate of White’s.

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The presence of Williams and the chance of early playing time both make UNC a viable destination for White. No disrespect to the current Tarheels’ running backs. But guys like Jordon Brown, Stanton Truitt and Michael Carter are not household names in the non recruiting circles, so he has a better opportunity to play right away there. Based on the lack of star power in the backfield, UNC has a chance to get White which would be perceived as an upset over the Georgia Bulldogs.

Georgia does appear to be the favorite here, but playing time could be harder to come by, because he will be competing with Brian Herrian, Elijah Holyfield and D’andre Swift.

So why is Georgia still widely considered to be the favorite despite the talented backs on the roster?

White is a quiet young man and has been really careful not to give any hints of his decision when answering questions, so there isn’t much to go on besides his frequent visits to the campus.

He has visited Georgia many times and the relationship with the coaches there seem to be very strong, particularly with running backs coach Dell McGee. On the interview with Dawg Sports Radio, Coach Bailey talked about Georgia, “It does start with Dell McGee though. He’s done a great job of recruiting Zamir. He’s been practically, as much as he’s legally allowed to come to our school-he’s there. And he’s been committed to build a relationship not only with me but with Zamir.” Bailey continued, “Like you said, Zamir has been there a lot and you kinda let a young man’s actions do the talking a little bit. And he’s definitely found his way back to Georgia on multiple occasions.”

Decision day is here and White will select his school on his mom, Shanee White’s birthday. He is a miracle baby that was given 10 days to live and was born with a cleft lip and palate, and he wants to honor her, because she overcame obstacles to raise him.

Zamir White will likely be a Georgia Bulldog or a UNC Tarheel later today.

Next: Clemson offers 2019 safety out of Georgia.

Be sure to stay tuned to Rubbing The Rock for more news regarding the Clemson football program and their pursuit of a running back in the 2018 recruiting cycle.