New Georgia head coach Kirby Smart landed his first signing day five-star pledge when athlete Mecole Hardman Jr. (Elberton, Ga./Elbert County) committed to the Bulldogs over Alabama and a host of others on Wednesday morning.
Hardman is a talented, explosive athlete that could be elite on either side of the ball in Athens. The 5-foot-10, 169-pounder is ranked as the No. 1 overall prospect at “athlete” for the Class of 2016 according to 247Sports Composite rankings for the cycle.
During the stretch run of his recruitment, Hardman was a bit coy as he publicly named Alabama his leader multiple times. He also released a top seven during on Jan. 18 that listed UGA at the bottom. The reality was this- first and foremost seven schools really were not in the mix that late and they rarely are- and second, the Bulldogs were in the driver’s seat for most of the process.
Following his official visit to Tuscaloosa earlier this month, all signs behind the scenes then began to point toward him staying in-state and playing in Athens, as was expected.
Regardless, this is a huge pick-up for Georgia. Hardman is a player that can make an instant impact this coming season- on special teams at the very least- for the Bulldogs and has NFL talent once his future position is determined and he masters it.
Northeast Georgia (up I-85 toward the South Carolina border from metro Atlanta) has been a gold mine for UGA over the years and has been very much so this cycle as Ben Cleveland (Stephens County) and Charlie Woerner (Rabun County) also are highly-regarded national prospects who are bound for Georgia.
How Mecole Hardman committed to #UGA:#NSD2016 pic.twitter.com/bwneyOzGjM
— Logan Booker (@LoganMBooker) February 3, 2016
Recruiting writer for Saturday Down South
