Georgia Football 2018 recruit: Linebacker Quay Walker

How did he end up at UGA?

Let’s just say that Walker didn’t exactly have a simple route to Athens. As a close friend of 2017 prospect Markaviest ‘Big Cat’ Bryant, Walker was very keen on the Dawgs during that cycle. But when Bryant surprised the coaching staff and committed to Auburn, bridges were burnt between Crisp County high school and UGA.

Byrant had given the Georgia staff a silent commitment but changed his mind. There seemed to be a lot of people around that program that were trying to push kids away from Athens. So after that, UGA dropped out of Walkers recruitment all together and focused on other players.

This eventually led Walker to commit to Alabama. However, he did not sign with the Tide on early signing day and it looked like his recruitment was opening up. Walker was very close to Jeremy Pruitt who left Bama to become the head coach at Tennessee. That put the Vols in the lead for his recruitment. It also helped that they hired Kevin Sherrer who was his recruiter at UGA to be their defensive coordinator.

In the end, though, UGA pushed through and ended up turning the tables. Walker had always liked the idea of playing for his home state school. He’d loved the Dawgs for a long time and eventually came full circle. His signing ceremony, is likely to go down in UGA folklore:

Was it immature? Yes. Is he a 17-year-old kid? Also a yes. Several rumors have come out that when he told Pruitt that he was going to stay home, Pruitt freaked out. Some say he hung up on Walker, others that he shouted at him. Maybe it’s true, maybe it’s not, but if it is, it’s not hard to understand why the kid would want to respond.