As a consensus top 10 national football prospect from Brooklyn, Isaiah Wilson was an outlier. That was clear when the mountainous offensive lineman from Poly Prep made the biggest decision o💮f his young life, announcing his college choice among Michigan, Alabama and Georgia on Friday.
Dressed as an elf during the school’s winter holiday assembly🎉, Wilson stunned the large crowd by opening a present with a Georgia sweater. He was then handed a puppy Bulldog as a Fac♈ebook live stream of over 8,000 people and 90,000 page views watched. Even his fellow students were chanting “Michigan, Michigan” at the time of the announcement.
“You don♑’t even know what’s coming,” the 6-foot-8, 350-pound senior, ranked second in the nation by ESPN, said he thought to himself.
“He’s more of an ‘I’m doing my own thing [type of kid],’ and it doesn’t matter if you agree, disagree, follow, don’t follow,” Scout.com national recruiting analyst Br꧂ian Dohn said in a phone interview. “I’m going to do what’s right for me.”
Wilson felt the best place for him was with𝓰 Kirby Smart and Georgia, not Jim Harbaugh and Michigan, not Nick Saban and defending national champion Alabama. Harbaugh may want to steer clear of Brooklyn kids. Just recently, Ohio State junior star Curtis Samuel, who starred at Erasmus Hall, scored the game-winning touchdown in Michigan’s double-overtime defeat to its bitter rival, and now Wilson has spurned him.
“Georgia just took of𒅌f like Usain Bolt, started s🥃miling when they finished the race,” Wilson said.
Wಌilson felt a bond with Bulldogs offensive line coach Sam Pittman, and was friendly with several of the program’s incoming recruits that, with Wilson’s commitment, now form one of the top recruiting classes i🧸n the country. Playing time wasn’t an issue, Wilson said, because of how much belief he has in himself, feeling he would get on the field as a true freshman at any of the three programs. Recent kids have struggled to make an impact in the SEC, players such as Ebenezer Ogundeko and Thomas Holley.
“I don’t want to come off cocky,💜 [but] I’m very confident in my abilities,” he said.
The other factor in Georgia’s favor was the future. While there are annual rumors about Harbaugh and Saban going to the NFL, Smart just took over at Georgia, leading the Bulldogs to a 7-5 mark and upcoming Liberty🦄 Bowl berth. Wilson doesn’t have to worry about a coaching change.
“Coaching security was big,” he said.
Wilson, an Under Armour All-American, is the latest elite recruit New York City has produced in the past several years, joining the likes of Rams defensive tackle Dominique Easley and Samuel. H🎉e is the highest-rated recruit since Easley, a first round pick of the Patriots in 2014, who starred at Florida.
“I take pride from being from the city. A lot of people say p♛ut on for the city. I think of it like this in the simplest of terms: If I eat, you’re going to eat as well,” Wilson said. “I’m going to try to help kids from the city achieve what they want to achieve. If I can help you out, I will.”
Basketball
Seton Hall sophomore wing♚ Veer Singh will transfer, the school announced on Friday.
St. John’s coach Chris Mullin attended Friday night’s Archbishop Molloy-Xaverian game in Queens to see five-star forward Moses Brown, a top 2018 target. Also on Friday, assistan👍t Matt Abdelmassih was in Vermont to see Sunrise Christian Academy (Kan.) four-star forward Derrick Walker, a senior to whom the Johnnies recently offered a scholarship. Walker, from the same AAU prog🔥ram as St. John’s forward Marvin Clark, is also being courted by Tennessee and Georgia, among others.
Jake Klores, a senior guard at Riverdale Country Day School in The Bronx, verbally committed to Co꧃lumbia on ꧋Wednesday.
Seton Hall hosted Hudson Catholic (N.J.) junior trio Luther Muhammad, Louis King and Jahvon Quinerly, Bishop Loughlin junior guard Markquis Nowell, The Patrick School (N.J.) trio Jordan Walker, Al-Amir Da😼wes and Valdir Manuel, and Immaculate Conception (N.J.) junior guard Jalen Carey for its victory on Monday at the Garden over No. 16 South Carolina.
Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard and assistant Shaheen Holloway will 💮a😼lso be in Florida this weekend for the prestigious City of Palms Classic for a number of targets, such as the Hudson Catholic players and five-star senior point guard Trevon Duval of IMG Academy (Fla.).