ATHENS, Ga. -- Wide receiver Tyler Smith of Powder Springs had a monster sophomore for McEachern High School. The Indians made it all the way to the semifinals of the state tournament in Georgia's highest classification, and Smith tallied 60 catches for 1,143 yards and 20 touchdowns along the way.
With his film finally getting out to schools around the southeast, his recruitment is beginning to heat up. Auburn was the first "Power 5" school to extend a scholarship offer. On Monday night, the Georgia Bulldogs became the second to pull the trigger.
"My high school coach, Coach [Kyle] Hockman, told me to give them a call," Smith said. "I called the Georgia coach, Coach [Brian] Schottenheimer, and he told me he wants to get me down there on a visit and told me they have a new wide receiver coach now."
The offer from Georgia is one that Smith had been wanting.
"I grew up with my dad being a big fan of Georgia, so it's great to get an offer from Georgia," Smith said. "I love the campus there. I love how the student section gets hyped up during the games and the atmosphere during games."
Prior to Monday, Smith knew he was on Georgia's radar. He just didn't know to what extent.
"They have been coming to talk to me every once in a while and they have invited me to games, but I didn't think the offer was going to come this early," Smith said.
One of the reasons Smith had such great success as a sophomore is due to the play of his quarterback Bailey Hockman, who also has an offer from Georgia. Smith and Hockman have been teammates since middle school and don't want that to end any time soon.
"We want to go to the same school," Smith said. "We want to stay close to home, so we have talked about Georgia. Any school that we can go together works. We want a school where we can both play early. Bailey loves Georgia. When he found out I got my offer, he started blowing my phone up."
Smith visited Georgia when the Dawgs defeated the Auburn Tigers last season, and plans to return to Athens next month for the next Junior Day along with Hockman.
