Kendall Milton. Signed with Georgia on December 18. Enrolls early in January.

The combination of those items did not attract the December attention they likely should have. That’s the way things go when Milton commits in late July, does not take any more visits and remains committed when other schools come knocking at the 11th hour.

His 5-star ranking took an odd dip. Even though he flourished and surged along a senior year. That can sometimes be attributed to many things, including no longer being the chased RB target by several big-time programs in a class.

Milton also had the opportunity to be in Texas this week for a top-tier high football experience of a lifetime at the All-American Bowl.

But he chose to hit another hole. Milton’s father, Chris, told DawgNation his son has chosen to fast lane his early enrollment by a few days.

“He is very serious about being able to come in immediately and plant his flag,” Chris Milton told DawgNation. “He did not want to risk anything so he will be in Athens this weekend instead of San Antonio.”

It means he will arrive on campus a couple of days earlier and in full health.

“He’s very priority-driven,” Chris Milton added. “His priority is having a healthy and successful college career from day one.”

If you’ve followed Milton and his storyline on DawgNation for the last two years, this choice will seem very much like a Kendall Milton thing to do.

The 6-foot-2, 220-pound early enrollee finished his senior year with 124 carries for 1261 yards and 20 rushing scores. That’s while playing essentially eight games due to a nagging quad injury and splitting carries in other contests.

That stat line averages out to 10.1 yards per rushing attempt. He also caught 15 passes for 300 yards and three more scores.

Milton’s worth to the 2020 class at Georgia, both running the rock and being a future pillar of this class, cannot be understated.

He will be expected to set an example by his play on the field and the way he carries himself off of it. Those are not a reporter’s words per se, but a reflection of what a man who played 116 games and nine seasons in the NFL had to say.

That’s Matt Giordano. He coached Milton across his career at Buchanan High School.

Giordano conveyed what Milton will mean to his next team earlier this month. The setting was the 2019 season banquet.

Watch the embedded tweet here. Or simply read along with what Giordano had to say.

He offered up a summation of Milton’s prep career while describing the words on a trophy that was on its way to the Milton family trophy spot.

“There is a boatload of things – of positive things – that you can say more about this young man,” Giordano said. “You know I’ve had the privilege and I’ve been blessed to play at a high level for a while when it comes to playing football.”

“Everyone always says oh yeah ‘Who do you compare him to against who you have played with?’ and I say ‘Well, there’s this guy he reminds me of. Or this guy’ but I go with that you shouldn’t be focused on that. This was touched on by coach Gaines.”

“This young man is special because of who he is. Not what he does. There’s a difference. This man is a special young man because he has a tremendous heart. He has a great personality. One of my favorites memories of this young man is there is a saying that I was taught one time ‘Either the room gets brighter when you walk in or it gets darker’ and when this young man walks in the room it gets brighter, man. Big time.”

“He is going to do amazing things athletically. But I also believe he is going to do amazing things when it comes to being a man. When it comes to being one day a husband. When it comes to being one day a father.”

“He’s a special human being. I am proud to have been able to coach him these last four years and our ‘Bear’ award winner goes to Kendall Milton.”

With a character reference like that, the news that he is now focused on Georgia doesn’t seem so uncommon.

Kendall Milton: The moments you might have missed

December is a wild month. Perhaps you didn’t get the chance to check out two other storylines involving Milton over the last month.

The first was he signed with Georgia. A very big deal in its own right with the expected turnover at that position off the 2019 roster.

Milton rates as the nation’s No. 6 RB and No. 37 overall prospect (247Sports Composite rankings) for 2020.

The second was Milton shared a tweet that is certainly retro and will read in sublime tones for the remainder of the 2020 recruiting cycle.

He brought back the same tweet that current Georgia junior Richard LeCoutne III kept making famous during the 2017 recruiting cycle.

It has currently gathered more than 3,100 likes on Twitter.