Commentary
Recruit 411: Signees Taylor, DeLoach
Part of package deal, small-town friends prepare for Athens
Updated: June 8, 2012, 11:10 AM ET
By
David Ching | DawgNation
There is nothing unusual about high school friends telling whoever will listen during the recruiting process that they are a package deal. Jonathan Taylor and James DeLoach are among the smaller group of prospects who made that proclamation and saw it through by signing with the same football program.
"As soon as we got our first offer, it was like we were probably going to go to the same school," said DeLoach, who signed with Georgia along with Jenkins County teammate Taylor in February. "He's been there and been through the same stuff I've been through and we know my likes and his likes and we can encourage each other, push each other. Since we've already got that chemistry, it would probably be different from somebody else trying to push you then."
DeLoach and Taylor's coach at Jenkins County, Charley Waters, encouraged them to find the best program for them as individual players, so one could still be happy at Georgia if something happened to the other. But he fully understands why two players who grew up in a town as small as Millen, Ga. -- with a population of approximately 3,400 -- would feel more comfortable leaving home alongside a friend.
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