SAN ANTONIO, Tex. — Alex Huntley was a member of the East team at the All-American Bowl last week in Texas.
He’s committed to South Carolina. Ranks on the 247Sports Composite as the nation’s No. 17 DT and No. 189 overall prospect. That places him as the fourth highest-rated commitment in the 2020 class for the Gamecocks.
And yet it sounds like he will give Georgia an official visit in January. That will come after the dead period lifts for the rest of the 2020 recruiting calendar. That will take place on Jan. 17.
That’s when recruits can visit schools on-campus again. Look for Georgia to get an official sometime between Jan. 17 and Feb. 2.
“Most likely yes sir,” he told DawgNation out in Texas. “Georgia is probably the only one that is like almost for sure and closest to being set in stone.”
The 6-foot-4, 285-pound senior from the Hammond School committed to the Gamecocks back in June. When he made that choice, he said that the Bulldogs were his No. 2 school.
“If I go on that official visit then it is definitely going to be a sincere look,” he said. “I’m not just going to go to use an official. If I go, it will be a look to see and a look see to see all of my options and stuff like that.”
Huntley is a commitment. He chose not to sign during the early period, but there’s a logical rationale why.
Those that have been following the Jordan Burch recruiting timeline will certainly understand. Huntley plays for that same Skyhawks program. The players in the Hammond program all sign together during the traditional signing day on the first Wednesday in February.
“That’s just been the plan,” Huntley said while describing that Hammond tradition. “We’ve known that since two years ago we were all going to sign together. We are going to do it in February. Whatever happens, we just all had to make sure we do it together.”
“Breaking it? That just wasn’t a thing. We are all bros. We are all brothers. We all want to sit at that long table together and do it together. That’s really what it was.”
Alex Huntley: Why he chose the Gamecocks back in June
Huntley has known South Carolina coach Will Muschamp for some time. Muschamp’s son, Jackson, was the quarterback for the Hammond team. He has been a fixture on that campus.
“Coach Muschamp and I have a relationship that honestly that is probably the biggest thing,” Huntley said. “I trusted him and trust him a whole lot. I trust him with what he is going to do with the program. He recruited me a whole lot as well so I just trust him with that.”
He has taken officials to South Carolina and Virginia at this point, but remains committed. Why will he take officials in January?
“It is more like a family thing honestly,” Huntley said. “They just want me to get there and make sure everything is clear. I am pretty much good, but my family wants me to get around and use everything up. Get some more looks because this process is about to come to an end and just to make sure that everything is 100 percent good.”
Georgia defensive line coach Tray Scott is the primary reason why the Bulldogs will get that last look.
“He laid off for a couple of weeks after the commitment but he brought it right back up,” Huntley said. “He has a really good relationship with me and my family. He is a really good coach and we really like him. And so of course, we really like the other coach [John] Scott [Jr.] at South Carolina, too. They are both great coaches but my family really does like coach Tray Scott.”
Scott actually coaches the defensive line for the Gamecocks, too. It is ironic that the two SEC East rivals employ coaches with the same last name to train their defensive lines.
Does Georgia have room for Huntley among the tight squeeze for the 2020 class? Huntley feels that they Bulldogs do.
“They said they have got [an offer] for me if I want to get in their class,” Huntley said. “So that is something that my family and I have got to talk about and have got to think about.”
Huntley basically said that Georgia and Virginia were the only other schools that can be seen as challengers to his South Carolina commitment at this time.
The 4-star prospect shared an interesting take on the Burch’s decision. Contrary to what most might think, he didn’t know. That was his Hammond teammate committing to the same SEC program he was set to play for, too.
“I was talking to some of the recruits,” Huntley said about Burch. “Junior year I thought it was Clemson. This year I thought it was LSU and then like a day before I was just thinking about it and I just thought ‘You know what he might just come to South Carolina with me’ and so he picked up the hat and so there was a video of me all going crazy. Because I didn’t know at all so it was a cool thing.”
That hierarchy went South Carolina, then LSU and then Clemson.
“We don’t really talk about the recruiting process that much,” Huntley said in regard to that topic. “We’re just friends, I did think he liked Georgia a lot. Honestly. I didn’t think he liked LSU. If I had to guess from an outsider looking in, I would’ve thought that Georgia was his number two.”
“Boogie” said his parents will be involved in scheduling that official with coach Scott and the Georgia program. The exact date is not yet known at this time.