Georgia holds off South Carolina as Wyatt sticks to commitment

It was almost guaranteed that Georgia would have a successful National Signing Day, although the possibility existed for one of its four-star commitments to flip to an SEC rival.

Devonte Wyatt, a defensive tackle out of Towers, switched his pledge to Georgia only two months after committing to South Carolina. But as the final decision loomed, Wyatt stated that it was a 50-50 split between the two programs, with Florida emerging into the conversation following a final official visit to Gainesville taken with his family.

Luckily for Georgia’s staff, he stuck to his pledge and made it public less than 24 hours before signing his national letter-of-intent, as was first reported by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“It came down to the wire for Devonte,” Towers head coach Brian Montgomery said. “He went to Georgia because he felt like that was the best fit for him, and it was his dream school.”

The reports swirled around Georgia and South Carolina, with Florida being the third-place contender. Montgomery refutes that claim and indicated that it had been an even race between the three teams.

The Gators had emerged to the point that Wyatt’s parents had stated a desire for him to head to Florida after being impressed on their trip. While a tough decision for Wyatt, with multiple groups of people trying to convince him to lean a certain way, Montgomery was able to assist him through the clutter.

“I was just there to lay everything out for him and made sure he blocked out any outside distraction,” Montgomery said. “I wanted to make sure that he made the best choice for him, which he did.”

The tough moment for Wyatt came when he had to call South Carolina head coach Will Muschamp and Florida head coach Jim McIlwain to inform them of his decision.

“Each program thought they could really have him,” Montgomery said. “Many people forget about Florida, but each school was disappointed because they all thought there was a legitimate opportunity.”

Wyatt was recently updated to a four-star recruit by the 247Sports.com composite and ranks as the 16th-overall defensive tackle prospect.

“Devonte is very athletic and has the size to make an immediate difference,” Montgomery said. “Once he gets stronger and faster, I think he’ll have a great impact in the SEC.”

This story was originally published January 31, 2017 at 4:37 PM with the headline "Georgia holds off South Carolina as Wyatt sticks to commitment."